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THE ABNAKIS 



AND -" 7)'^y 



' ' ' V 

THEIR HISTORY. 



OR 



f3i5t0i1tal lotias 



ON THE 



ABOEIGINES OF ACADIA. 



BY 

RE\^. EUGE>(E VETROMILE, 

MISSIONARY OF TUE ETCHEjriXS, C0RKE8P0NDIXG MEMBER OF THE MAINE 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ETC. 



NEW YORK: 
JAMES B. KIRKER, 

599 BKOADWAY, UP STAIRS. 
Sold for the benefit of the Vidians. 

1866. 



^ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1866, 

By EUGENE YETROMILE, 

Jn tb« Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 



E. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER, 
81, 83, and 85 Coitre st. K Y. i 



INDEX, 



PAGE. 

N Preface vii 

CHAPTER I. 
North American Indians 11 

CHAPTER II. 
Division of the North American Indians 14 

CHAPTER III. 
The Abnakis, a proper and distinct nation 11 

CHAPTER lY. 
The Abnakis, original people 25 

CHAPTER Y. 
Manners and language of the Abnakis 34 

CHAPTER YI. 
Abuaki hand-writing 40 

CHAPTER YII. 
Acadia — Analysis and meaning of the word — Its limits and 
aborigines of Acadia — Remarks on Aggmicia, the original 
name of the Penobscot River 44 

CHAPTER YIII. 
Indian villages in Acadia — On the Penobscot — On the St, Croix, 
and on St. John's Rivers — In the rest of New Brunswick 
\ — On Nova Scotia 52 

CHAPTER IX. 
n Religion and superstition » « GO 



% 



IV INDEX. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER X. 
Public life 71 

CHAPTER XL 
Astronomy and division of time 75 

CHAPTER XII. 
Domestic life 88 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Present condition of the Indians 95 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Division of parties amongst the Indians of Maine — Indians of the 

British Provinces t 104 

CHAPTER XV. 
Character of the Indians 125 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Vindication of the character of the Indians — Imputation of cruel- 
ty 128 

CHAPTER XVII. 
The same subject continued. Charge of treachery 133 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Present treatment of the Indians east and west of the Mississippi. 

Hanging of thirty-nine Minnesota Indians 147 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Treatment of the California Indians. Reservation system adopted 
by the Government like that of the Catholic missions in Ame- 
rica 151 

CHAPTER XX. 
Conclusion. , . , 161 

Appendix 165 




TO THE 



RT. KEY. DAVID ^Y. .BACON, D.D., 

Bishop of Portland or Yixeland. 



My Lord : — In dedicating and humbly submitting this 
small volume to your lordship, I beg leave to state that 
I have not been actuated by its merit, it being nothing 
more than a collection of a few historical facts compiled 
with care, and presented in these pages ; but I have 
been determined by motives too powerful for me to 
look elsewhere than in your person for a protector of 
this work. Amongst the many reasons, two are the 
principal ; First. That part of Acadia, which is com- 
prehended in the State of Maine, belongs to the diocese 
of Portland, of which you are the first Bishop, whom 
Divine Providence announced seventy years ago, when 
tlie good Bishop John Carroll from Baltimore pro- 
mised to the Etchemins, now a portion of your flock, a 
pastor to remain with them. And, indeed, since your ac- 
cession to the See of Portland, the diocese has received 
new life, not only in the erection of many churches, con- 
vents. Catholic schools and asylums, and in carrying the 
light of the Gospel to the far distant T\'ilderness of Maine 



VI DEDICATION. 

and New Hpimpshire, which you have provided with 
pastors, but also in the reformation of tlie morals of 
Catholics, who are grown in piety and fervor, as the 
practice of the Sacraments, the pious Associations, and 
other works of devotion testify. 

The other reason is, that those Aborigines of Acadia 
entrusted to your spiritual charge are the first Catholics, 
and the harbingers of Christianity in the United States. 
For before Lord Baltimore in the Ark and Dove enter- 
ed Chesapeake Bay and planted the Catholic religion 
on the shores of the Potomac in Maryland, the mission 
at St. Saviour had been established in your diocese by 
Father Peter Biard at Mount Desert, where a Catholic 
chapel was erected, and the Catholic religion acquired 
the right of first occupation in the State of Maine, a 
right which was sealed with the blood of Brother Du 
Thet. From the Indian villages of Mount Desert the 
Etchemins saluted the Catholic missionaries, and asked 
to be regenerated in the salutary waters of baptism, 
seven years before Samoset from the rock of Plymouth 
welcomed the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. Before George 
Popham stepped on an island of the Kennebec River, 
the shores of that river and of the St. Croix had been 
dedicated to the Catholic religion by Father Biard and 
other missionaries from Franco, and by French settle- 
ments under De Monts on Boon Island. These are, my 
Lord, some of the motives Avhicli have actuated me to 
offer you this small volume ; and I flatter myself that 
you will accept it as a token of respect and attachmei^.t 
from the least v.orth.y of your servants. 

Eugene Veteoivole, 

Missionary of the Etchemins. 



PREFACE. 



The history of Acadia is strictly connected with the 
histoi-y of the Christian Church in New England, and to 
preserve its fi-agments is to give a contribution to the 
history of the Catholic Church in America. The Abo- 
rigines of Acadia were the first native Americans that 
received ih.e light of tlie Gospel and embraced the Chris- 
tian reliulon. This fact has never been denied. The 

CD 

Etchemins and Micmacs to this day hear witness of the 
permanence of the fruit produced by the labors of Ca- 
tholic missionaries. The same would have been the case 
with the Abnakis, if they had not had the misfortune 
of being brought in contact with the colonists of Eng- 
land, who succeeded in nearly extinguishing that nob'e 
and kind nation, but never in extirj^ating their religion. 
While all admit that the Aborigines of Acadia were 
the first Christians of New England, yet there are per- 
sons who endeavor to rob the Catholic religion of tlie 
claim which she has acquired of being the first religion 
ever practised not only in New England, but also in the 
whole continent of America. The Puritans claim to 
be the first who have exercised the Christian religion 
in New England, because they landed in Massachusetts 
in the year 1620, but the Episcopalians dispute it on ac- 
count of George Popliam, who about f )urteen years 
previously Lad landed on "an island of the Kennebec 
Kiver in Maine, where a nieetii'g was held, which is 



Vm rREFACE. 

claimed by tliem to have been a religions meeting ac- 
cording to the ritual of ihe Church of England. The 
Catholic settlements are not mentioned, and the religious 
exercises ot' the Catholic Church in the State of Maine 
are ignored. 

Documentary proofs ostablish the fact that Northmen 
from Norway and Irei ind had established themselves in 
Iceland and Greenland before a. d. 1000. About that 
year they coasted the North American shores as far 
south as 41° 30' north latitude,* and the well attested 
narratives of their voyages and discovery of this country 
justify the conclusion that they had given the name of 
Vineland to the Atlantic coast of New England. The 
remark, made in the course of this volume, that the sun 
remained eight hours visible during the shortest day of 
the year, and that the land must have been Newfound- 
land^ proves only, that either they spent the winter in 
Neiofoundland^ or that they had not yet proceeded fur 
ther south to the 41° 30' north latitude, which seems to 
be an established fact.f The Abnakis and Etchemin In- 
dians preserve amongst them the word 3Iadocoicando 
as a personal name. Owando means devil^ but Madoc 
is acknowledged by them to be a foreign word whose 
meaning they do not know. It is found preserved in 
the Scandinavian annals, that Madoc was the name of 
the leader of a Welsh voyage and colony to this coun- 
try in A. D. 1178. 

Leif, son of Eric the Red, was baptized in Norway by 
St. Olaus, then king of that country, and in 1000, he 
bore with him priests to convert the colonies in Ameri- 



* Antiquitates Americante. Trausactiuns of the Royal Society of 
Kortliprn Antiquaries. 

\ American Archseology, by Samuel F. Haven. 



PKEFACE. IX 

ca. Eric,* the most celebrate! of these missionaries, in 
1120 retm'ned to Europe to procure the establishment of 
a bishopric. The Scandinavian bishops deemed him the 
most suitable person, and he was consecrated at Lund, 
in Denmark, in 1121 by Archbishop Adzer. He soon re- 
turned to Greenland with a nun.ber of clergy, and thus 
the first American See was founded, and the organization 
of the Catholic Church was properly established in this 
country in a. d. 1121. 

After the discoveries of Christopher Columbus, Ameri- 
cus Vespucci, and Cabot, the French kings felt the duty 
of converting the natives to the true religion. Cartier's 
commission authorized him to explore, " in order the bet- 
ter to do what is pleasing to God, our Creator and Re- 
deemer, and what may be for the increase of His holy 
and sacred name, and of our Holy Mother the Church." 
De Monts, the founder of Acadia, although a Calvinist, 
was expressly required in his charter to have the Indi- 
ans instructed, and invited to a knowledge of God and 
the light of faith and Christianity. It is clear it is to be the 
true faith, and not the Calvinist. Although some Hugue- 
nots were amongst the Colonists, yet the Colony was 
Catholic, and Lescarbot makes express mention of a 
church being built on Boon Island, at the mouth of the 
St. Croix River, as early as 1604, which was attended by 
a chaplain. The King of France would have never re- 
quired De Monts to establish the Calvinist religion. We 
know that every vessel belonging to the French Govern- 
ment was always provided with a Catholic chaplain. 
We are not aware of any exception to this rule, even in 
the time of Henry IV. Poutrincourt, who succeeded De 
Monts in the work of colonization, addressed a touching 
I ' — — ■ — 

■ * Not to be confounded with Eric the Red. 



:^ PREFACE. 

letter to the Pope, and obtained his benediction on his 
labors. 

This circumstance is sufficient to prove that the colony 
was Catholic. It is true that it was removed to Port 
Royal in Nova Scotia, yet the missionaries continued to 
work amongst the Indians of Maine. Father Biard, be- 
fore leaving Port Royal to establish the mission of St. 
Saviour in Maine in 1613, had ab-eady visited the shores 
of the Kennebec, and spoken very highly of it to the 
Marchioness de Guercheville, the patroness of the mis- 
sions. She had chosen the Kennebec as the spot des" 
tined for a new mission ; a patent from the King, and a 
grant or release from De Monts, a former patentee, were 
obtained for this object. It w^as through a mistake of 
the pilot that they landed on the east side of Mount 
Desert Island. 

The Episcopalians say that Boon Island was not then 
a part of New England. At that time there was no 
New England, hence the spot where George Popham 
landed v^as not in it ; the whole country was called 
North America. In 1606, James I. divided the portion 
of North America lying between the 34th and 45th de- 
grees of latitude into two parts, and called it North and 
South Virginia, Avhich were granted to two companies. 
It was only in 1614, that Prince Charles changed the 
name of North Virginia to that of New England. 
There was no mention made of the degree of longi- 
tude. In 1620, a new patent was granted to the Ply- 
mouth Company, comprehending that part of the country 
lying 40 and 48 degrees from North to South, and ex- 
tending throughout the mainland from sea to sea, under 
the name of New England in America. At all events, 
the i^lace of the first settlement by De Monts w^as in the 
land now called New England. France claimed the same 



PREFACE. xi 

country from the 36tli to the 52d degree of latitude, 
under the name of JSTew France. This estabhshes the 
fact that the first settlement in New England was 
CathoHc; the first religious service performed, was 
Cathohc; the first religion preached to the natives of 
America, was Catholic ; and the first converts were 
Catholics. 

If any part of the early history of this country re- 
quires more light and illustration, it is that which re- 
gards the Abnakis and the Aborigines of Acadia. It 
is with this view that the author has collected all the 
historical documents, that he has met with not only in 
printed works, as Charlevoix, Bressani, Letters of Learn- 
ed Travellers, etc. ; but in several manuscripts left by 
Father Maillard, Demilier, and by others whose name is 
not known, which he has found amongst the Indians. He 
has also made a sober and critical use of all traditions 
yet remaining amongst the natives of Acadia. A few 
remarks have been added on the character of the Indians, 
in order to vindicate them from some accusations, which 
are brought up against them, as a pretext to dispossess 
them of their land. 

With the hope that his labors will not be found entire- 
ly useless to the student and general reader, he submits 
it to the public judgment. 

BiDDEFORD, Me. Jan. 10, 1865. 




THE ABNAKIS 

AND 

THE ABORIGINES OF ACADIA 



CHAPTER I. 



NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 




^HE disparity between the inhabitants of Eu- 
rope and of America is so striking that it has 
moved some to venture on the ill-founded, 
erroneous, and infidel oj)inion that they cannot 
derive their origin from one common source with 
the other races. Philosophers, however, who have 
studied the character of the Indians, and persons 
acquainted with their manners and language, now 
feel no hesitation in adopting the well grounded hypo- 



12 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

thesis, that the aborigines of this continent first 
came from Asia by the Bhering's Straits. It was 
an opinion of Buffon and other European philo- 
sophers, that the Northern and Arctic regions had 
formerly enjoyed a milder state of atmosphere than 
they do at present, and that the climate is slowly 
but gradually changing to a colder temperature. 
They adduce many good reasons, which can be 
found in the works of Buifon and other writers, who 
have treated this subject at length. This well-known 
theory has been confirmed by discoveries made by 
Captain Parry on Melville Island, by Captain Ross, 
Captain McClnre on Banks Island, by the immortal 
but ill-fated Sir John Franklin, and by the oflicers 
of the Resolute^^ who in 1853 were in search of him 
and of his crew, which shared the same fate with 
him. An extensive coal formation has been found 
on the banks of the Mackenzie river, where the beds 
of lignite are subject to spontaneous combustion. At 
Melville Island and in old Greenland f there has been 
discovered bituminous coal, which by several geolo- 
gists is conceived to belong only to temperate latitudes. 
Admitting this nearly certain theory, the desolate 
^Russian America, the unexplored region west of 
Mackenzie's river, the inhospitable Labrador, Prince 
William's Land, and the region north-west of Hud- 
son's Bay, enjoyed once a milder climate, which 
corroborates the always favorite and well supported 

* ThiB is the same Resolute abandoned by her crew and found by 
some Yankee whaler. It was refitted and presented by the United 
States to the British Government. 

f Capt. Parry's third voyage. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 13 

opinion of a former intercourse and commerce with 
Asia by the Straits of Bhering. Captain Eay, of the 
whale-ship Superior^ testifies, that while lie was 
fishing in Bhering's Straits he saw canoes going 
from one continent to the other. The origin of 
the native Americans is thus evidently explained. 
It has been also observed that ]^orth Americans 
have habits and manners similar to the Tchuktchians, 
Kamtschatkans, Yakoutsks, and Koriaks of Asia. A 
gimilarity in the language has been discovered ; and 
the Americans have been found to have designated 
the months in the calendar with names of animals, 
as in Japan and Kalmuchia. 

To an European or Anglo-American all Indians 
look alike, but persons accustomed to them can very 
easily discern even one tribe from another. The dif- 
ference, however, is not such as to infer that all 
tribes do not descend from the same stock. Even 
the hardy Esquimaux race of Greenland, so remark- 
able for their dwarfishness, and a propensity of select- 
ing for their abode the most desolate and inhospi- 
table regions, and wlio differ most from the rest 
of Indians in physical characteristics, manners, and 
language, attain along the shores of America the 
same stature as other races of men, and after cross- 
ing the mouth of the Mackenzie river they blend 
with the rest of the Indians in every respect. As 
low down on the Pacific Ocean as Vancouver's 
Island, the natives have some characteristics of the 
Esquimaux race, so that it would be impossible to 
tell where the Indians became Esquimaux, or where 
the Esquimaux became Indians. 




CHAPTER IL 



DIVISION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

>F, from the identity of language and manners, 
we infer that of nations, we can divide the 
natives of l!^orth America east of the Missis- 
sippi into four large families, the Esquimaux, the 
Algic, the Dahcota, and the Muscolgee or Mobi- 
lian. The Esquimaux occupies Greenland, Prince 
William's Land, Labrador, and the l^orth-western 
Continent round Hudson's Bay and as far west as 
Russian America, along the coasts of the Polar Sea, 
round Icy Cape, Bhering's Strait, and Bhering Sea, 
to the Peninsula Alaska, to the Pacific Ocean. 
The mouth of the Mackenzie's River is one of the 
several mustering points at which they assemble at 
certain stated times. The Algic family, or Algon- 
quin, tlie largest of all, is bounded north by the Es- 
quimaux family, and as far west as the Great Slave 








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THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 15 

Lake. They occupied once the whole Atlantic shore, 
from Newfoundland to Virginia, then westward, 
striking the Mississippi, whose western shore they 
possessed to its source ; then the Red River and the 
Saskachawan to the Ahabaska. They are sub-divided 
in four nations, Lenni-Lenapi, Abnaki, Iroquois, and 
Chipeways. The Mobilian or Muscolgee family 
embraces the Cherokees, Creeks, E^atchez, and all 
the tribes south-east of the Mississippi, bounded on 
the north by the great Algonquin nation. The Daco- 
tah family comprehends the Sioux and all the tribes 
of the western shore of the Mississippi. The Indians 
west of the Rocky Mountains are not yet well known. 
The Algic family, with the exception of the Iro- 
quois, and of the Tuscarora tribe which left North 
Carolina and joined the five Iroquois nations, were 
not of a cruel disposition, and we do not read of 
them those cruelties and barbarities which are 
reported as common to the Iroquois and other 
Indians. If they were at times hostile to the 
Europeans it was due mainly to ill treatment 
received. The European settlers were w^elcomed 
by the Indians. When in December, 1620, the 
passengers of the Mayflower landed among the 
snows of Plymouth, they heard the voice of Samo- 
set crying, " AYelcome, Englishmen ! welcome, Eng- 
lishmen ! " The Indians ofiered a cordial hospi- 
tality to the white race. It is true that they 
w^ere in what the Europeans call a barbarism, 
yet it was a state of an honest independence and 
noble simplicity. It is true, that the natives of the 
North had no cities, and none of the European arts : 



16 ' THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIE HISTOEY. 

agriculture itself was hardly known, or practised 
yery sparingly ; but the requirements of life were 
not so numerous as in civilized nations. They lived 
by hunting the wild animals, which their mountains 
and forests supplied in great abundance. 

The natives seeing the white race so rapidly 
increase in this country, and invading their land and 
rivers, were startled w^ith a serious apprehension of 
losing their hunting grounds, and after several acts 
of hostility from the part of the whites, took up arms 
ao:ainst them. Their fears have been realized. The 
Puritans massacred in a single day the entire 
nation of the Pequods residing in ]S[ew England, 
and this wholesale slaughter was so complete that 
it has been said bv an eminent historian that there 
did not remain a sannup or squaw or a child of the 
Pequod name. Many other tribes afterwards shared 
the same fate. Entire nations have been continually 
driven backwards, others have lost their hunting 
grounds, and may soon expect to find not a corner 
to pitch their wigwams on that land, of which they 
were once the only masters, 




CHAPTEK III, 



THE ABNAKIS, A PROPER AND DISTINCT NATION. 




LTHOUGH the Abnakis were once a pow- 
erful nation, and occupied from the shores 
of the great St. Lawrence down to the 
Atlantic Ocean, and from the mouth of the Kenne- 
bec river to the eastern part of New Hampshire, 
yet the kind and gentle Abnaki has almost dis- 
appeared from Maine. The few of that ancient 
and noble nation that remain — mixed with other 
tribes of Canada— will soon share the same fate. It 
is true that the deep mosses of Maine shall no more 
be imprinted with the moccasin of its ancient mas- 
ter, yet no man shall ever be able to efface the name 
of the Abnaki from this extensive land. Every hill 
and valley, every river and brook, every lake and 
pond, every bay and promontory, bears witness of 
that nation. True ! the Abnaki disappeared from 



18 THE ABNAKIS : AND T:IHEIR HISTORY. 

this soil, but not before having marked every nook, 
stream, and pond with the name of their owner. The 
granite monument on the left shore of the Kennebec 
river, near Norridgewock, points out the lonely spot 
of the last Abnaki village in this State — the only 
spot east of the Mississippi marked with a monument 
to perpetuate the memory of an Indian village of the 
last century, to which so many historical recollections 
remain attached— a monument which is the pride of 
the antiquarian, and the target of vandalic hands. 

The aborigines that once lived on the banks of the 
Kennebec river, in the State of Maine, w^ere visited 
earlier than any other Indian nation of New France 
and Acadia, if we except the Souriquois or Mic- 
macs. Before Father Biard, in 1613, sailed from 
Port Royal in I^ova Scotia for Mount Desert, near 
the mouth of the Penobscot river, he had already 
visited the shores of the Kennebec, and the people 
of that country.''^ He speaks very highly of them, as 
of a powerful nation living in settled villages. Yet 
it is to be lamented that so little is known of them, as 
even to render their very existence doubtful to some 
antiquarians of the present age. That eminent scho- 
lar, Baron William von Humboldt, in one of his let- 
ters, urged the publication of the dictionary of 
Father E-asles, on the ground that very little was 
known of the dialect of the Abnakis, and its publi- 
cation would preserve that language from per^^etual 
oblivion.f 

* Shea: Catholic Miss, in the U. S., p. 131. 

f John Pickering's Notes on Jonathan Edwards, D. D. Mohegan 
Indians. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 19 

It is a fact well known, that very often the same 
tribe or nation has received different names from 
various persons or nations ; so the Abnakis were called 
Taranteens by the l^ew Englanders,^ and Owenagun- 
gas by the New Yorkers. This fact has led several 
persons to think that the number of the Indian 
tribes was larger than it was in reality. Travellers, 
meeting the same tribe, or a part of it, encamped 
in different places, have often been misled in tak- 
ing them for different nations. The Indians are a 
roving people, and it is a frequent occurrence to find 
the same tribe now at one place, now at another ; in 
this manner the same tribe may have been reckoned 
several times. I can give an illustration of it in the 
Indians who live in Maine. The Passamaquoddy 
tribe at present dwells at four places. One part at 
Pleasant Point, near Perry, another part at Calais, 
another on the Schoodic lakes, and another on the 
British shore of the St. Croix river. Travellers not 
acquainted with this fact would make four tribes 'out 
of this nation, which forms only one tribe. 

We must admit that a large portion of the North 
American Indians were called Abnakis, if not by 
themselves, at least by others. This word Ahiaki is 
found spelt Ahenaques, Ahenaki, Wapanachki^ and 
WabenaJcies^ by different writers of various nations, 
each adopting a manner of spelling according to 
the rules of pronunciation of his respective native 
languages. This, however, is of no consequence. 
The word generally received is spelled thus, AhnaM^ 
but it should be Wcuihdnaghi^ from the Indian word 

* Shea : Hist, of the CathoHc Miss. 



20 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

wdnhdnhan^ designating the people of the Aurora 
Borealis, or in general, of the place where the sky 
commences to appear white at the breaking of the 
day, from wdiihighen^ it is white. I shall give a fuller 
and more satisfactory translation of the word Abnaki 
in the progress of this work. 

It has been difficult for different writers to deter- 
mine the number of nations or tribes comprehended 
under this word AbnaTci. It being a general word, 
by itself designates the people of the east or north- 
east. We follow the most of the authors who have 
treated this subject, to embrace under this name all 
the tribes of the Algic family who occupy, or have 
occupied the east or north-east shore of North Ame- 
rica ; thus, all the Indians of the sea shores, from 
Virginia to Nova Scotia, were Ahiahi/^ We include 
also the aborigines of Newfoundland, and of the 
northern shore of the St. Lawrence river as far as 
Labrador, because they also belong to the same family. 

We find that the word Ahiaki was applied in 
general, more or less, to all the Indians of the East, 
by persons who were not much acquainted with the 
aborigines of the country. On the contrary, the 
early writers, and others well acquainted with the 
natives of New France and Acadia, and the Indians 
themselves, by Ahnakis always pointed out a particu- 
lar nation existing north-west to the mouth of the 
Kennebec river, and they never designated any 
other people of the Atlantic shore, from Cape Hat- 
teras to Newfoundland. 

* See Encyol. Amer. vol. vi. 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 21 

In an ancient map published in 1660, in the his- 
tory of Canada, written by E-ev. Father Du Creux, 
the Abnakis (Abnaquioii) are located between the 
Kennebec (Kinibekius flavins) and Lake Charnplain 
(Lacus Champlenius), occupying the headwaters of 
the Kennehec^ of the Androscoggin (fluvius Amirga- 
canius), of the Saco (Choacatius fluvius), and of 
another river marked in the map without name, 
which is, perhaps, the Presiunjpscot river. The 
same author does not put any other nation north of 
New England, except the Etchimins (Etecheminii) 
north and east of the Penobscot river (Pentegoitius 
flumen), and the Souriquois (Soricoi) in Xew Bruns- 
wick and Nova Scotia {Acadia). No other nation is 
marked in New England (Nova Anglia), except the 
two following. The SoJcoqicis (Soquoquioii) between 
Boston (Bostonium Londini), Plymouth (Plimutium), 
Ca^e Cod (Promontorium Malabarreum), and the 
Connecticut river. The other nation is that of the 
Mokegans (Natio Luporum), between the Connecti- 
cut river and the North river (fluvius borealis sen 
merau). These are all the nations which occupied 
the area of New England and Acadia in 1660. 
Every nation, no doubt, was subdivided into dif- 
ferent tribes. 

This is confirmed by Father Bressani, Father 
Easles, and other early missionaries, who spent a 
great number of years amongst the Indians, whose 
language and manners they possessed to some per- 
fection. The difi*erent names given to nations located 
in New England and Acadia were generally from 
strangers. The number of tribes has been either too 



22 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

much exaggerated or over reckoned. The same 
tribe may have been counted several times under 
different names, according to the various residences in 
which a tribe, or a part of it, had encamped for some 
war, hunting, or fishing party. These names were 
generally taken from some river, pond, etc., in whose 
vicinity they had pitched their camps. This must 
have been the cause of much confusion. We say at 
present the Penobscot, the Passamaquoddy, the Old- 
town, the Pleasant Point, the Calais, the Louis 
Island, the Moosehead Lake, the Lincoln, the Matti- 
nacook, the Passadumkeag, the Ollemon Indians, jet 
they are only one nation, the J^tchi7ms, divided in 
two small tribes, the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy^ 
This might have been the case in ancient times. 
Only five nations are reckoned in New England and 
Acadia, namely, the Mohegans, the Sokoquis, the 
Abnakis, the Etchimis, and the Micmacs, 

La Hontan confirms it by putting the same nations 
and no others.* He mentions the Openangos, who 
are the Penobscots,t and I would rather believe 
them to be the Abnakis, by spelling the word dif- 
ferently, and the Canihas^ who are the same Abna- 
Ms called by the French Canibas^ or Kanibals^ from 
the Kennebec river.J La Hontan, however, is inac- 
curate in locating them all in the ancient Acadia. 
This error is not uncommon to old writers not well 
acquainted with geography. Dr, Jonathan Edwards 

* Transactions of the Hist and I^it. Com. of the Amer. Philos. Soc. 
of Philad , V. I p. 107. 

f Father Demiher's manuscripts, 

X Father Rasles' Let. Lettres edif., vol. vi. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 23 

does not mention any other tribe in 'New England,* 
and he falls into error of geography in locating the 
Penobscots in Xova Scotia. The classification of 
Gookinf may be reduced to the following: The 
Peqiiods are the Mohegan nation — the Narragan- 
setts and the Massachusetts must be the Sohoqids. 
The Pawkunnawkuts or Wampanoags are the Ahna- 
Ms^ and under this name he comprehends also the 
Etchhnis and Micmacs. Father Bressani does not 
mention any other nation. In a letter written by a 
French gentleman to a Father of the Society of 
Jesus,:]: there is mention of the Micmacs and Mare- 
schites (the Etchimis being called also Mareschites) 
in Acadia. On the St. George river, which divides 
New France from New England, he puts the Abna- 
kis and Kanihas. Towards Quebec, the Pajpinacliois^ 
the Baquenets^ the Algonquins^ the Iroquois^ the 
Hurons^ the Wolves and SokoHs. Of these only the 
Wolves and SokoMs are in New England. It is to 
be remarked that the SokoMs are put near the 
Wolves and not near the Ahnakis, just as they are 
in the map of Father Du Creux, Now leaving these 
tribes, we return to the Ahnakis. 

The Ahnakis had five great villages,! two amongst 
the French colonies, which must be the village of St. 
Joseph or Sillery, and that of St, Francis de Sales, || 

* Observations on the Language of the Muhhekaneen Ind., with 

Notes by J. Pickering. 

f Transactions of the Amer. Antiq. Soc. at Cambridge, vol. iv. p. 33. 

X The travels of several learned missionaries of the Society of Jesus, 
p. 316. 

§ Father Rasles' Let. Lettres Edif., vol. vi. p. 159. 

II Shea: Hist, of the Catholic Miss., p. 135-142. 



24 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

both in Canada, three on the head waters, or along 
three rivers, between Acadia and New England. 
These three rivers are the Kennebec,'^ the Androscog- 
gin,f and the Saco,:j: as it appears from the map of 
Father Du Creux, and from the words of Father 
Hasles, who says that these three rivers enter into the 
sea south of Canada, between ISTew England and Aca- 
dia.§ The names of these villages must be those 
given by Father Rasles in his dictionary,! namely, 
Nanmntswak (where the river falls again), Anraes- 
sukkantti (where there is an abundance of large hsli), 
Pannawanhskek (it forks on the white rocks). These 
three villages are those of this State. The names of 
the two Abnaki villages of Canada are Nessawa- 
kamighe (where the river is barricaded with osier to 
fish, or where the fish is dried by smoke), and it is 
the present village of St. Francis of Sales. The 
other Canadian Abnaki village is St. Joseph or Sil- 
lery, called formerly by the Indians Kamiskwawan- 
gachit (where they catch salmon with the spear). T 

* Kennebec means Long water. It denotes a stream coming from 
the Long-water, the long ponds in "Winthrop. 

\ Androscoggin means Andros coming. Andros is the name of a 
Governor of Maine ; coggin is an Indian word, and it means coming. 
Andros, or a family of that name, must have settled near that river. 
The same river is also called Ammoscoggin, and it means fish coming 
in the spring. 

\ Its original name was Almuchicoit, corrupted in Chacoit, and af- 
terwards in Saco. It means the land of the Utile dog. The river took 
its name from the Sagamore of the tribe of that name, who was also 
called Almuchicois, or Almushiquois, residing on the Saco river. 

§ Lettres Edif., vol. vi. p. 104. 

II Abnakis' diet., p. 544. Father Bigot's letters. See Les Yoeux des 
Hurons et des Abnaquis. Cl.artres, 1854. 

^ Notes on Father Bressani's Relation, p. 329. 




CIIAPTEE lY. 



THE ABNAKIS ORIGINAL PEOPLE. 



^^r^HE Abnakis bear evident marks of an ori- 
j|L ginal people in name, manners, and lan- 
guage. They show a civilization which 
must be the effect of antiquity and of a past flou- 
rishing age. The origin and meaning of the word 
Ahiaki has been always the subject of investi- 
gation amongst historians and philologists. It seems 
that they were satisfied in finding that it meant peo- 
ple of the east^ without inquiring further into the 
analysis of the word. Rev. John Heckewelder spells 
it Wapanachk^'^ saying that the French had soft- 
ened it to suit the analogy of their own tongue ; yet 
he does not give the pronunciation of the word to see 
in what the French did soften it. Williamson, f in 

* Transactions of the Hist, and Philos, Soc. of Pbila., vol. i. p. 109. 
f Hist, of Maine, vol. i. p. 463. 



26 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

a note, gives the autliority of Kendall, who resolves 
it into wabamo or wabemo (light, east) and asM (land), 
from which it follows that ch in Wapanachki was 
soft, hence there was no need for the French to 
soften it, it being French to pronounce ch soft like sh. 
This word then would have been Abnasque — very 
appropriate for the French pronunciation. Moreover, 
in the comparative vocabulary of fifty-three nations, 
published in the ArchcBologia America7ia by the 
American Antiquarian Society at Worcester,* in no 
language the word ashi means land, except in that of 
the Knistinaux Indians ; but light in that same lan- 
guage is Tcisigostagoo, and not wabamo. If it comes 
from wabisea or wapishkawo (white), it is very diffi- 
cult to make wapanachki out of those two Knistinaicx 
words. Then it remains to be proved when and how 
the Knistinaux Indians could call the aborigines of 
the Kennebec Eastlanders. 

It is certain that the word Abnaki was not 
that by which the natives of the Kennebec Kiver 
called themselves, but that by which they were 
called by others. I find in all the languages of 
Acadia and New England, that the word Abnahi^ 
spelt as is found in the most ancient manuscripts,t 
Abanaquis^ Abnaquois, Wabanahi^ means our an- 
cients or OUT ancestors of the east. This word 
is to be resolved into wanb-naghi. WanbX means 

* Transactions of the Amer. Antiq. Soc, vol. ii. 

f Father Bressani's notes at the word Abnaki. 

X Wdiib may be spelt luah, then the a must have a strong nasal pro- 
nunciation, like that of the Portuguese language in the words mao 
(hand), Allemao (German). 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 27 

wliite, hence wdnhighen^ it is white (the breaking of 
the day), and wanbanban^ aurora borealis. All 
authors agree in this word, yet they never remarked 
the meaning of naghi^ which means ancestors in all 
the dialects of JSTew England and Acadia. Father 
Rasles says that neganni arendnbak means the anci- 
ents ofiyast timeJ^ Ogfian in Mohegan means/«z5A^^, 
to which adding n it would mean our fathem.\ 
There is no Sokoki vocabulary of my knowledge, 
but if the Sokoki language be the Massachusetts, 
noosh in that dialect means my father. X_ In Micmac, 
nakan has the signification of old, ancient, and it 
was also the meaning at an earlier time, as it ap- 
pears from the manuscript of Father Mainard. 
Nhani in the Etchimi tongue means our ancients.% 
It is quite natural that this word Abnahi (our ances- 
tors of the East) should have been given by other 
tribes, and not by themselves, as they could not call 
themselves with that word before it had been given 
by others. This is confirmed by the Abnakis them- 
selves, who never called themselves by that name. 
It seems that they called themselves men. The 
Abnaki villages were called by them in general 
nardnlcamigdoh ejpitsik arenanbak\ men living on 
the high shores of the river. I speak the Abnaki 
language — nedarenandivl (I speak man, from are- 
nanbe). I speak the Iroquois language — nemehwa- 

* Abnaki Diet., p. 384. 

f Archseol. Amer., vol. ii., and Dr. J. Edwards' observation. 

X Transactions of the Amer. Antiq. Soc, vol. ii. 

§ Father Demaher's MS. Diet. 

II Abnaki Diet,, p. 542. 



28 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

andiial (I speak mequa, a name with which the Mo- 
hawks were called by the Algonquins living on the 
Atlantic shores).* 

"We are aware that this interpretation of the word 
Abnaki at first may appear to be too studied, and 
rather strained to give a forced meaning, in order to 
defend an opinion which may be false. But it is not 
go. We have no system to defend. What we have 
asserted is nothing else but the result of long and 
diligent investigations, which for many years we 
have made on the different dialects of the Algonquin 
lano^uao-e, of consultations held with Indians of dif- 
ferent tribes, and a close examination of printed 
works and manuscripts treating on this matter. We 
have no other view except to draw light on this very 
obscure subject, which we consider to be the duty of 
every historian and antiquarian, rather than to adopt 
favorite systems, which have no support on history 
and truth; and we are ready to abandon our opi- 
nion on the word Ahiahi whenever any other 
person will give a better translation, and throw 
ilhistration on this point. For many years we 
adopted the commonly received interpretation, that 
Abnaki meant men of the East ; it was satisfactory, 
and appeared to be natural. Further investigation 
on the Abnaki language generated at first a doubt 
in our mind about the true meaning of that word. 
For many months we endeavored to defend it against 
what appeared to show that it was not its real trans- 
lation. This brought us into deeper consideration 

* Transactions of the Am. Ant. Soc. , vol, ii. p. 34. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 29 

and analysis of the word AbnaJci^ till we were forced 
from evidence to admit that the word Abnahi does 
not merely mean men of the East^ but out ancestors 
of the East, Here we submit a part of the investi- 
gations which brought us to this conclusion. 

It is granted by all that the word AhnaM should 
be wanhanahi^ or wanbanaghi^ it being the origi- 
nal word in the Indian language. If it would mean 
only men of the East^ it sh(^ild have been Wanhahi 
and not wanbanaM. The syllable na is radical in 
this word, and not a grammatical increment. We 
find that the only Delaioare tribe could make ivapa- 
naki (people of the morning), that is, of the Aurora, 
East, but this word could not have originated 
from the Delaware tribes, but from those of Kew 
England and New York, who were in contact with 
the Abnaki, and in reality east of them ; whereas 
they were not east of the Delaware but north of 
them. The word having originated in IS^ew Eng- 
land and New York, spread through the Southern 
tribes. In old Algonquin language white is wdbi^ 
and land is aquin / hence it would make waha- 
quin, wdbahl. In the New England Indian dialect, 
white is womjp% and land okhi / hence it would 
be wanpohM, In Narraganset, white is womrpesu^ 
land ohi^ it would be womhesohL In the other dia- 
lects, as Mohegan^ Long Island^ etc., it is still more 
unlike. In the Abnaki dialect, wanhighen^ it is 
white^ comes from the roat wanbi^ and land is Tci, 
Father Eale, in his dictionary, gives many modifica- 
tions of the Word wanbighen, in which the syllable 
na or the letter n never enters. This and other 



30 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

considerations oblige us to resolve the word loanba- 
naghi in wanb-naghi, whicli means, our ancestors of 
the East inhere it commences to he white of the 
aurora). 

This is confirmed by tradition. I am aware that 
Hecke welder's narrative is looked upon with some 
distrust by critics, who accuse him of too much cre- 
dulity in listening to and believing the narrations of 
the Indians. However, this accusation has not yet 
been satisfactorily proved. Heckewelder, in the 
introduction to the account of the history, manners, 
and customs of the Indian nations,* says the Lenni- 
Lenapis are acknowledged by near forty Indian 
tribes, whom he calls nations, as being their grand- 
fathers. Yet by perusing the text of Heckewel- 
der with attention, it is not the Lenni-Lenapis that 
were called grandfathers, but the Abnakis. This 
word is extended by him to the Lenni-Lenapis, 
and by a personal preference, he concluded that 
the Lenni-Lenapis were the grandfathers of the 
forty nations ; yet from the text it is clear that 
they were the Abnakis. l!^o tribe ever called the 
Lenni-Lenapis, Abnahis, but if sometimes they may 
have been called so, it was in a general sense 
— extended to all the tribes from Virginia to I^ew- 
foundland. I cannot see how Lenni-Lenajpi means 
original men. Lenajpi is man^ and it is the same 
word alnambe in Abna'ki.\ If Lenni means also man^X 

* Transactions of the Hist, and Amer. Pliilos. Soc. of Phila,, vol. i. p. 
25, 
f John Pickering's notes on Father Rasles' Diet. 
X Transactions of the Amer. Antiq. Soc, Cambridge, vol ii. p. 308. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 81 

it must be an abbreviation of the word Lenapi^ and 
it would mean man-man^ that is, man hy excellence, 
and not original man. In the historical account of 
the Indian nations,* in relating the treachery of the 
Mengwe Indians against the Lenni-Lenapis, Rev. J. 
Heckewelder seems to explain what the Indians 
meant iovpure man. He relates how the Lenni-Lena- 
pis did not consider the Mengwe Indians as a pure 
race, or as rational beings, but as a mixture of the 
human and brutal kinds. Father Easles, who had 
been a missionary amongst the Illinois, relates, that 
to be a real man, true man, amongst the Indians, 
means to be a great hunter, or a great warrior.f 

It is true the Indians have given the name of 
father, grandfather, uncle, etc., to several persons 
only for compliment, yet it was through respect and 
acknowledgment of a superiority. Hence we have 
to admit, that if it was through mere compliment 
that those forty nations called the Abnakis their 
gi-andfathers, they acknowledged in them, at least, 
some preference and superiority. 

We have a regular nomenclature of degrees of 
relationship amongst them. The Delaware Indians 
call the Wyandots (the Hurons) their uncles \X and 
we know that the Hurons are, more than any other 
nation, like the Abnakis, in manners and language. 
The Lenapis call the Mohegans their grandchildren ;§ 

* Philad. Philos. Trans., vol. i. p. 37. 
f Lettres Edif., vol. vi. p. 144. 

X Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren by Rev. J. 
Heckewelder, p. 115. 

§ Williamson's Hist, of Maine, vol. i. p. 455. 



32 THE ABISTAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

the Shaivanoes and Mohegans acknowledged the 
Lenapis their grandfathers. The Bliavmnoes call the 
Moliegans their elder brothers, and the latter call the 
former their young brothers.* Hence it appears 
that both Mohegans and Shavjanoes were descendants 
of the Lenajpis^ and that the Lenapis being nephews 
to the Hurons^ tliey were not original people, but 
thej recognized some common ancestors with the 
Hurons. We find these common ancestors to be the 
AbnaMs. The Abnakis never acknowledged any 
ancestral tribe, which is a proof of their antiquity. 
An early Abnaki missionary, giving the cosmogony 
of that tribe, says they claim to have been created 
where they were, and that the Great Spirit, having 
made them and their land as a chef cfoeuvre^ made 
the rest carelessly.f 

Having observed how the name and tradition 
show that the Abnahis are an original people, let us 
consider a few^ more remarks drawn from their man- 
ners and language, to prove the same subject. 

One of the characters of the Algic family is to be 
errant and roving in the woods. The Hurons had 
some fixed villages, yet they were not described to 
be of that order and neatness as those of the Abna- 
kis.:j: The mound existing on the Kennebec Kiver 
of Maine proves that only the Abnakis had villages 
of some consideration. Xo other mound of any ele- 
vation can be found in New England, with the 
exception of some vestiges of enclosures at Sanborn- 

* Philad. Philos. Transactions, vol. i. p. 69. 

f John G. Shea : Letter. 

X Father Bressaui's Relation abr., p. 66. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 33 

ton and near Concord, 'New Hampsliire.^^ Father 
Rasles mentions three considerable villages in the 
State of Maine,t besides the two amongst the French 
colonies. In the one at jS'orridgewock, he sajs the 
cottages were distribnted with an order very near 
like the houses in the cities. This village was sur- 
roanded by a kind of wall of poles or stakes, high 
and so thick as to protect them against the incursions 
of the enemies. The cottages, although built of 
poles and covered with large bark, yet were elegant 
and convenient. Their dress was modest, and orna- 
mented with a great variety of rings, necklaces, 
bracelets, belts, etc, made out of shells and stones, 
worked with great skill. It was not so with the 
other surrounding tribes of the Algic family ; they 
were negligent in their dress or entirely naked. 
Although at seasons they went hunting the wild ani- 
mals of the forests, and fishing on their numerous 
lakes and rivers, yet this was not the only method 
on which they depended for acquiring the necessa- 
ries of life. They practised also agriculture. Their 
fields of sJcamunar (corn) were very luxuriant. As 
Boon as the snows had disappeared, they prepared 
the land with great care, and at the commencement 
of June they planted the corn, by making holes with 
the fingers or with a stick, and having dropped eight 
or nine grains of corn, they covered them with earth. 
Their harvest was at the end of August. 

* Samuel F. Haven: Archaaology of the U. S., p. 153. 
f Lettres Edi£, vol vi. 

3 




CHAPTEE Y. 



MANNERS AND LANGUAGE OF THE ABNAKIS. 




Abnakis had an amenity of manners and a 
docility, which distinguished them by far from 
the other Algonquin tribes, which cannot but 
be the effect of education. Their morals were pure, 
and they have never been charged with any kind of 
cruelty, even in time of wan When Father Druil- 
lettes* proposed them, as a condition precedent to 
baptism, that they should first give up intoxicating 
liquors, live in peace with their neighbors, and aban- 
don their medicine bags, drums, and other superstitious 
objects, they all agreed without difficulty. On the 
other hand, we find that this was one of the greatest 
obstacles which missionaries encountered in planting 
the gospel amongst the other tribes. We know the 

* Shea: Cath. Miss., p. 130. 



^ — W; 




THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 85 

troubles, dangers, and persecutions which Fathers 
Marquette, Brebeuf, and others endured from the 
medicine men of those tribes to which they preached 
the gospeh Their affection for their children was 
very striking. Soon after their birth, they were 
wrapped in a bearskin, and they were raised with 
much care, and as soon as they were able to walk, 
they were taught how to manage the bow and 
arrows. They were remarkably hospitable, and their 
attachment to the family w^as such as we do not read 
of in other tribes of the Algic family. Their cou- 
rage and valor as warriors, even against European 
troops, were unsurpassed. Twenty Abnakis once 
entered an English trading-house, either to rest or to 
traffic, when they were surrounded by two hundred 
British soldiers, to capture them, when one Abnaki 
gave the alarm of war, crying, " We are dead, let us 
sell our lives dearly." They prepared to fall upon 
the British soldiers, who had great difficulty to 
pacify them.* Another time, during the wars be- 
tween England and France, while thirty Abnaki 
warriors, returning from a military expedition against 
the British, were asleep at night, they were sur- 
prised by a party of British soldiers, headed by 
a colonel, who had been on their track. The sol- 
diers, six hundred in number, surrounded them, 
certain of their capture, when an Abnaki awoke 
and cried to the others, " We are dead, let us sell 
our lives dearly." They arose instantly, formed 
six divisions of five men each, and with the toma- 
hawk in one hand and a knife in the other, they fell 

* Lettres Edif., vol. vi. 



36 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

upon the British soldiers with such force and impetu- 
osity, that they killed sixty soldiers, including the 
colonel, and dispersed the rest. In a later war 
between England and France, the Abnakis joined 
the latter, on account of their allegiance to this 
nation, and during the war, they spread desolation 
in every part of the land occupied by the English. 
They ravaged their villages, forts, farms, took away 
a large quantity of cattle, and made six hundred 
prisoners.* 

Their sentiments and principles of justice had no 
parallel amongst the other tribes. We never read 
of their having been treacherous, nor wanting in 
honor or conscience in fulfilling their word given 
either in private or in a public treaty. We have a 
very remarkable example of the fidelity with which 
they retained their allegiance to France.f In the 
time that the war was about to break out between 
the European countries, the British governor, lately 
arrived at Boston, required a conference with the 
Abnaki Indians, to be held on an island. He endea- 
vored to induce the Abnakis to remain neutral, and 
to let the French and English settle their matter 
amongst themselves, w^ho were equally strong ; and 
he promised to furnish the Indians with everything 
they wanted, and to buy their peltry. This was the 
great answer given by the Indians, after a consulta- 
>. tion held amongst themselves, and delivered by one 
of their orators : — 

"Great Captain, you say to us not to join our- 

* Lettres Edif., vol. vi. f Ibid. 



THE AiiiNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 37 

selves to the French, supposing that you are going 
to declare war against him. Let it be known to you 
that the French is my brother, he and I have the 
same prayer, and we both live in the same wigwam, 
at two fires — he has one fire and I the other. If I 
see you enter the wigwam on the side of the fire 
where the French my brother is seated, I shall 
observe you from my mat where I am seated, at the 
other fire. In observing you, if I see that you have 
a tomahawk, I will think to myself, ' What does the 
English intend to do with that tomahawk ? ' I will 
rise from my mat to see what he intends to do. If 
he raise the tomahawk to strike the French my bro- 
ther, I shall take my tomahawk, and I will run to 
the English and strike him. Can I see my brother 
struck in my own wigwam, and I remain quiet, 
seated upon my mat ? I^o, no ! I love my brother 
too much, that I should not protect him. I tell you, 
Great Captain, do nothing against my brother, and 
I will do nothing against you ; stay quiet upon your 
mat and I will stay quiet upon mine." I could bring 
other proofs of the noble sentiments of this nation, 
to show that the heart and mind of the Abnakis 
were not savage and uncultivated, like many of the 
other tribes of the Algic family, but they were 
grand, pure, and refined, to scorn even the most 
civilized nations of both continents. 

A primitive language in a state of infancy is mono- 
syllabic, like the Chinese and others in Asia, but the 
Indian languages, being composed of words formed 
by an agglutination of other words, or parts of them, 
cannot be a language in a state of infancy. How- 



88 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

ever, as this is common to all the Indian dialects, it 
proves nothing in this case. At present I am not pre- 
pared to give a comparative view between the lan- 
guage of the Abnakis and those of the other tribes, 
to show the superiority and cultivation of the former 
above the latter.* I will only make some remarks 
upon two points, namely, upon a traditional superi- 
ority of the Abnaki language, and upon the manner 
of writing it. 

Baron La Hontanf puts only two mother lan- 
guages in the whole ej^tent of Canada ; the Huron 
and the Algonquin. Speaking of the Algonquin lan^ 
guage, he asserts that it was a language very much 
esteemed amongst the savages, in the same manner 
as the Greek and Latin languages are esteemed in 
Europe. From this it follows that it must have been 
a cultivated mother language, and, as it were, a clas- 
sic tongue amongst them. In the transactions of the 
historical and literary committee of the American 
Philosophical Society of Philadelphia,:t ^^ ^^ agreed 
that what the Baron La Hontan remarked of this 
language was very correct, but they do not allow to 
him to call it Algonquin, but they want it to be 
called Abnaki, that is to say, this quality of being a 
classic language belongs to the Abnaki nation, and 
not to the Algonquin, which is a small, miserable, 
wandering tribe. We fully agree with this remark 
of the learned Society of Philadelphia, and espe- 
cially in observing that La Hontan puts the Abnakis 

* The author is preparing a comparative dictionary of the Abnaki 
dialects, in three volumes in folio. 

f Yol. i. p. 109. X Ibid. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 39 

at the head of the tribes inhabiting Nova Scotia, 
whom he calls also Abnakis. Rev. J. Heckewelder, 
who appears to be the author of these remarks, 
reflects further * that La Hontan probably did not 
understand sufficiently the Abnaki language, other- 
wise the Indians would have informed him that they 
derived their origin from a powerful nation, whom 
they revered as their grandfather. I know that He v. 
J. Heckewelder alludes to the Lenni-Lenapis, but I 
have already proved how the Lenni-Lenapis must be 
referred to the Abnakis, because the Lenni-Lenapis 
were not Abnakis, except in a general sense, called 
60 only by authors not much acquainted with the 
Abnakis. 

* Phila. Transactions, vol, i. p. 109. 





CHAPTER YI. 



ABNAKI HAND-WRITING, 

fT has been an oLiect of research amoim^t the anti- 
qnarians to find whether the aborigines of this 
continent possessed any manner of writing. 
With the exception of the Mexicans and Peruvians, 
it has been denied. All, however, agree that they had 
a kind of hieroglyphics, or rather pictures, with some 
conventional signs to transmit an event, battle, hunt- 
ing party, etc. The celebrated Dighton rock, the 
other at a place in Connecticut, called by the Indi- 
ans Scaticoolc^ and many others collected by Di% 
H. R. Schoolcraft,* show that they had an imperfect 
manner of engraving pictures, with a few signs, 
which could not be reduced to a regular system of 
writing with hieroglyphics, like the people of Asia. 
Yet it was because they were not familiar enough 
* Hist , Cond., aud Prpsp. of the Indian Tribes. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 41 

with tlie Indians of the N^orth. The Abnakis and 
neighboring tribes had a regular method of writing 
in the same manner as the Chinese, Japanese, and 
other Asiatic nations, although with different cha- 
racters. This kind of writing is yet used amongst 
the Micmacs, and I am surprised that no writer has 
yet made any mention of this manner of scripture. 

This S3^stem is so perfect that there are in exist- ;^|._ 
ence three regular books, one containing prayers, ^'I'f 
another the mass, and another a catechism ; two of 
these, written by an Indian, are in my possession. 
A specimen of this hand-writing, with the English 
version, is appended at the end of this volume, as 
also some parts of the Abnaki and Micmac Ian- « 
guages. It reads running from the left to the right. 
Old Indians, however, at Oldtown, informed me of 
having seen this kind of books written by running in 
a vertical line from the top to the bottom, and, if I 
am not mistaken, others running from the right to 
the left. 

I close the present subject by giving a short his- 
tory of this manner of writing, such as it exists by 
tradition amongst the Indians, confirmed by their 
missionaries,* and especially by the Rt. Rev. Bishop 
Colin Frs : MacKinnon, D.D., Bishop of Arichat, 
a native of Nova Scotia, and a scholar of great talents 
and high education, who was for many years amongst 
the Micmac Indians. 

When the French first arrived in Acadia, the 
Indians used to write on bark, trees, and stones, 
engraving signs with arrows, sharp stones, or 

* Letter of Rev. Christian Kauder, a missionary amongst the Micmacs. 

3* 



42 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

otlier instruments. They were accustomed to 
send pieces of bark, marked with these signs, to 
other Indians of other tribes, and to receive back 
answers written in the same manner, just as we do 
with letters and notes. Their chiefs used to send 
circulars, made in the same manner, to all their 
men in time of war to ask their advice and to give 
directions. Several Indians possessed in their wig- 
wams a kind of library composed of stones and 
pieces of bark, and the medicine men had large 
manuscripts of these peculiar characters, which they 
read over the sick persons. Inscriptions of this kind 
were made by Indians on standing trees, in the 
woods, to inform others about some extraordinary 
event. The Indians assert that by these signs they 
could express any idea with every modification, just 
as we do with our writings. When the French mis- 
sionaries arrived in that country (they generally refer 
to Fathers Mainard and Le Loutre), they made use of 
these signs, as they found them, in order to instruct 
the Indians. They improved them, and others were 
added in order to express the doctrine and mysteries 
of the Christian religion. 

This kind of writing does not exist, nor do we 
know that it has existed amongst other nations of 
the Algonquin family. All the researches made by 
missionaries and learned antiquarians, could never 
find any of these characters to have been used by 
other Indians, such as we find at present amongst 
the Micmacs, and which formerly were common 
amongst all the Indians of Acadia and of a portion 
of 'New France. The Micmacs, the Montagnais, the 



THE LORD'S PRAYER IN MICMAG HIEROGLTPHICS. 



*, 



f-z/ I 



Dushinen "Wajok 
Our Father in heaven 



ebin 
seated 



tehiptook 
may 



dehvigin ' 
thy name 



fl& 



ff 



I 



i/z^ 



megaidedemek Wajok n'telidanen tehiptook ignemwiek ula 

be respected in heaven to us may grant theo 

icv:> H> 3rl ^ «c=a ci^ 

nemulek uledechinen. Natel wajok dell chkcdoolk 

to see iQ staying. There in heaven as thou art obeyed 

tehiptook deli 



may 



be 



chkedulek 
obeyed 



makimiguek eimek 

on earth where wc are 



h^-c:^: 



A. 



no 



Delamukubenigual echemieguel apch 

As thou hast given it to us in the same manner also 



neguech kichkook 
now to-day 



ti-C:^! 



9,-l/_ 



delamooktech peneguunenwin nilunen ; 
give it our nourishment to us ; 



^•— -■«-'<— ^ c 



deli abikchiktakachik 
we forsrive those 



f£ ikj 1 J> A d ^^l^ ^T^=<3 



wegaiwinametnik elp kel nixkam 
who have offended us so thou O God 



abikchiktwin 
forgive 



H 



melkeninrec^. 
hold us strong 



winnchudil 
by the hand 



mu 

not 



k'tygalinen 
to fall 



elweultick 
our faults 

£cnc 

keginukamkel 
keep far from us 



i^^ 311 biff 2:z 



winnchigueHV, 
sufferingB 



twaktwin. 
evils. 



N'delietch. 
Amen. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTOEY. 



43 



Etchimis, and the Abnakis melt in one same nation 
and language; and these must be the tribes that, 
according to the tradition of the Hicmacs, kept cor- 
respondence amongst themselves by this kind of 
hand- writing. A few of these hieroglyphics can yet 
be seen amongst the writings of Father Kasles, 
which is a confirmation of what I assert. The Abna- 
kis have disappeared, with the exception of a few 
left in Canada, The Etchiniis are vanishing away 
very rapidly. The Montagnais are in the same 
condition. The Micmacs are at present the only 
standing nation that can represent the red man of 
the northeast ; hence no wonder that we find the 
remains of this manner of writing, preserved espe- 
cially by the care of their missionaries. I hope that 
this system of hand-writing will not be suffered to 
be buried in silence amongst the ruins of time, but 
that the memory of this kind of scripture shall be 
transmitted to future ages, to show the antiquity and 
education of the noble and gentle, but ill-fated 
Abnaki.* 

* Sir^ce we wrote this, a pmyer-book ia the Micmac hieroglyphics 
has been published by the learned Rev. Christian Kauder— a zealous 
and indefatigable missionary among the Micmacs of Nova Scotia. 





CHAPTEE VII. 



ACADIA ANALYSIS AND MEANING OF THE WOED ITS 

LIMITS AND ABORIGINES OF ACADIA REMARKS ON 

AGGUNCIA, THE ORIGINAL NAME OF THE PENOBSCOT 
RIVER. 

'^^EFOEE entering into the description of the 
^J^^ aborigines of that part of !N"orth America for- 
merly known under the name of Acadia, it 
seems proper to lay down a few remarks in regard to 
its name and boundaries. The w^ord Acadia, w^ritten 
sometimes La Cadie and Acadie, is Indian, The origin 
of this word, and its meaning, has always been a sab- 
ject of investigation among the antiquarians, who 
generally admit it to be an Indian word, though they 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 45 

do not ^x its meaning. Some of them have ventured 
interpretations, which, however, they abandoned after 
further consideration. I was at one time led to resolve 
Acadie into the two Abnaki words AH-adie (land of 
dogs). Yet, after more recent investigation, I con- 
sider it more natural to trace it to the Micmac word 
academ (we dwell), or tedlacadem (where we dwell), 
that is, our village. We have yet in J^ova Scotia a 
place called Tracadie, which must be the Indian 
word tedlacadem, or f dlacadem, where we dwells 
and perhaps it is the original word of Acadie. The 
principal river in Xova Scotia is called Shiiben-aca- 
die, river where we dwell, or village-river. 

The limits of Acadia are not clearly established, 
and they vary according to different writers. It is 
certain, however, that Acadia was divided in four 
parts, and it had four distinct proprietors.* The 
first part was from the Penobscot river in Maine to 
the St. John^s river in New Brunswick, and it was 
called by the French the Province of the Etchemins, 
but its former name was Nohirabeha (succession of 
falls and still-water), the Indian name for the Penob- 
scot river, or rather for some parts of it. A part of 
it had also been named Wew Ireland, from the first 
settlers, who were Irish. The second was from the 
St. John's river to Cape Salle, and it was called by 
the French Baye Franqaise. This bay at present is 
called Bay of Fundy {¥od\i\2a'\xm, bay of the mines). 
The third from Cape Sahle to Canzeaux (Cause, the 
name of a French navigator), and it was called Aca- 

* Charlevoix, liv. iii. 



46 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

dia by the French,* I^ova Scotia by the English. 
The fourth from Canzeaux to Cap des Hosiers 
(from a fish of that name, phoxinas squamosus, or as 
others assert, from the French navigator I^osier)^ 
and it was called Gaspesie^ from the Indian name 
Gachepe or KecKpi (the end), very appropriately to 
signify the extreme North-east end of the Micmac 
territory, and the last promontory lying betweeu 
the mouth of the great St. Lawrence river and the 
Bay of Chalevirs.f 

All this vast extension of territory was possessed 
only by two Indian nations, the Etchimins and the 
Miomacs. The JEtchimins occupied the waters of 
the Penobscot^ St. Croix., and St. John's rivers, and 
the most part of both shores of the Bay of Fundy as 
far east as Port Poyal^ near Annapolis, The Mic- 
macs dwelt on the rest of ISTova Scotia, on the south? 
eastern part of ^New Brunswick, on the southern 
shore of the mouth and Bay of St. Lawrence, and 
also on the adjoining islands. It is doubtful whether 
Newfoundland was inhabited. It is, however, cer- 
tain that its northern part was frequented by the 
Esquimaux ; the western and southern parts by the 
Micmacs. There is, however, good ground to believe 
that it was settled by the Micmacs. Maps are found 
in which Micmac settlements are marked north-west 
of Fortune Bay. It is asserted that in the interior 
of Newfoundland there existed a tribe of Aborigines 
who shunned all intercourse with the Europeans, 

* That is, the Indian word Acadia was appUed by the French to 
that part of the country. 
f If Gaspesie comes from Eespasse, it means smoked food, v. g. fish. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIK HISTORY. 47 

and who are supposed to have perished of starva- 
tion. In the earlj part of this century, five or six 
Indians came in one of the settlements in extreme 
want, wlio were said to be the only remnant of the 
race. They represented that they, with their breth- 
ren, had been forced by the severity of the winter 
and depth of the snow to abandon the camp for want 
of food, hoping to be able to reach the shore, but they 
had perished in the way. Two of this remnant only 
lived to reach St. John's, where the last died in 1828. 
But I have been informed by some missionaries of 
the French islands St. Pierre and Miquelon, that in 
former times, nearly every spring, canoes were ob- 
served coming from the shores of Newfoundland, 
and many dead were buried on the French islands. 
This happened because the Indians of ^Newfoundland 
being Catholic, refused to bury their dead on Eng- 
lish territory, which was Protestant, but they carried 
them to be interred in French land, because it was 
Catholic. It is asserted"^ that there existed a very 
harmless tribe of Aborigines, to whom the Euro- 
peans gave the name of red men^ but who called 
themselves Beoths^ and that they were diflferent from 
the rest of the North American Indians. They must 
have been the Esquimaux^ and by Beoths the Esqui- 
maux Indians must not have meant themselves, but 
the Micmacs^ who also lived on the same island. 
Baatu in some of the Esquimaux dialects means 
canoe^ and we know that the Micmacs were called 
canoe-men. If we can rely on the assertionf that 

* Encyclopaedia Americana, v. ix. 

f Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society. 



48 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

in the conntiy called Yinland^ settled by an Ice- 
landish colony, the sun remained eight hours visible 
during the shortest day of the year, that country 
must have been Newfoundland, It is positively 
asserted, that there existed Indians who, from their 
description and name, Shroellings^ given them by 
the I^ormans, and which in the Icelandic language 
means dwarfs^ must have been the Esquimaux. 

The origin of the word Etchimin is Indian, and it 
means men from tchinern^ man. To describe the 
Etcliimins by tribes, would be a fruitless attempt, 
as we have no certain records of them, and it would 
scarcely throw any necessary light on their history. 
But we have historical documents that they had 
three principal settlements on the three largest 
rivers, the Penobscot^ the -6'i!^. Croix^ and the aS'^^. 
Jolin^s. 

The first Etchimin settlement was on the river 
Penobscot^ or rather Penaubsket^ which means, it 
flows on rocks — a characteristic very well appropri- 
ated to that river, on account of its shallowness 
and the many rocks on which it runs. In dry sea- 
sons I have known the waters of that river to be 
so low that I could hardly go from MaUanacookf^ to 
Oldtown in a canoe. Some writers have been of 
opinion that the Penobscot river was formerly called 
JVolumbega, and Pentagwet^ or Boamtuquaitooh / 
but these names expressed only some localities of 
that river. Nolunibega means a still-wdter between 
falls, of which there are several in that river. At dif- 

ji * Mattanacook, or Martinacook, is an island in the Penobscot river 
near Lincoln. The name means long and high. 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THER HISTORY. 49 

ferent times, travelling in a canoe along tlie Penob- 
scot, I have heard the Indians calling those localities 
Nolumlega. Fentagioet^ or Boamtuquet means Iroad- 
water, and it expresses a locality after the narrows 
of Bucksport up towards Bangor. 

Before proceeding further with the historical de- 
scription of these Indians, I deem proper to make a 
brief digression, not altogether foreign to tlie subject. 
I wish to remark, that the real and ancient name given 
by the aborigines to the Penobscot is Aggimcia,^' a 
word which cannot be traced to any language, ex- 
cept to the Abhaki, and it means our nephews, from 
u'hhun and tsis. This leads us to the important his- 
torical discovery tliat the inhabitants of the Penob- 
scot river, the EtcMmins, were descendants of the 
Ahnahis. The great and famous Algio family de- 
rives its name from the river Agguncia. There is 
no difficulty to explain how the letter I is found in 
the word Algic and not m^'Aggimcia. The root of 
the word Agguiioia is u'kum, with an aspiration be- 
tween the two first letters, it'lc. This aspiration by 
some tribes is sounded with a kind of crash in the 
throat, by others it is sounded as r, by others it is 
replaced by an I. We have innumerable exam- 
ples of this rule in the Indian languages. The 
change of the u in a is grammatical. G and h being 
convertible letters, u'huncia makes Alguncia, or 
A'guneia, from which the word Algonquin, or Algic, 
is derived. This explains why the whole Algonquin 
nation call the natives of the Kennebec river Ahia- 



* Pronounced Agkuntcliia. 



50 THE ABISTAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

his^ that is, our ancestors of the East^^ because the 
Algonquins deriving their origin from the Agguncia 
(the Penobscot) who were nephews to the inhabitants 
of the Kennebec, they naturally call these Indians 
4-bnakis, that is, our ancestors of the East. This is 
confirmed by the fact that the name with which the 
Etchimins call the Algonquins, is Ussaghen, pi, Us- 
^aghenicJi^jf our nearest ancesio7's, because they im^ 
mediately descended from the inhabitants of the Ag- 
guncia, who were the first Algonquins, nephews to 
the Abnakis, and fathers to the Etchimi?is. These 
children of the Ahiakis, aud fathers of the Agguncia, 
inust have been the Alrnauchicois on the Saco river, 
and the inhabitants of the Androscoggin, who very 
probably were the Amelingas, One of the names 
of the Androscoggin was Amingdnkin. Ifow, the 
AhnaJcis never called the Algonquins by the name 
of Ussaghenich, our nearest ancestors, and they could 
not, because the Algonquins were nephews to the 
Ahnaltis. The Ahnakis called the Algonqidns our 
nephews, or descendants, Fr. Basics informs usj: that 
w^hen an Abnaki says, I speak the Algonquin lan- 
guage, he expresses himself thus : nesangnanandwe, I 
speak the language of our nephews, either from the 
root u'kun, nephews, or dankawinum, descent. The 
word must be resolved so, ne-sangnan-nandwe / the 
first syllable ne, and the two last, nandwe, mean, I 
speak I and sangnan comes either from u'kun, nephew, 
or dankawinum, descent, of which both words u^kum 

* See the Collections of the Maine Hist. Society, v. vi., Abnakis. 
f Fr. Demilier, MS. Dictionary. \ Rasles' Dictionary, p. 499. 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 



61 



is always the root. The d is changed into s for 
euphony's sake. In the same manqer they say ne- 
mekuandwe^ I speak Iroquois. 

This solves several other historical questions. It 
explains why the Penobscot Indians were called 
Taranteens ; it was because they were living on the 
Agguncia river, which, was the cradle of the AlgoU' 
quins, who were called Adirontak^ eaters of trees^ by 
the Iroquois^ to ridicule their unskilfulness in hunt-? 
ing. It explains why the Penobscot dialect is so 
mucb more like the Algonquin than many other 
dialects of the same nation ; they being more nearly 
related to them than the others, excepting the Almou- 
chicois. Finally, it explains why the entire Algio 
family call the inhabitants of the Kennebec AbnaMsy 
our ancestors of the East^ while we do not read that 
the Etchimins and Micmacs were named Abnahis^ 
although living east of the Algonquins ; at least not 
called so until the word Abnakis became a generic 
name, and employed to point out the entire Algio 
family. 





i 




CHAPTEE YIII. 

INDIAN VILLAGES IN ACADIA — ON THE PENOBSCOT — ON 

THE ST. CROIX, AND ON ST. JOHn's KIVEES IN THE 

REST OF NEW BRUNSWICK ON NOVA SCOTIA. 

jHE Indians living on tlie Penobscot river were 
called Penobscot, and sometimes Openangos^ 
a corruption for Abnakis. The principal Pe- 
nobscot village was, as I learn from the Indians, about 
Mattawaiikeag-jpoint {a har of gravel divides the river 
in two"^). There are vet remains of Indian articles to 

* It is a general custom with the Indians* that whenever they speak 
of a river, or describe it, they always allude upward to the origin, and 
not downward to its mouth ; v. g. they say the river forks, when two 
rivers join into one. 



Ik 












OC3 



> 



o 



c^ 










THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 53 

be found in that locality. There was a graveyard, and 
the old Indians remember yet some remains of the 
settlement. Besides the present village at Oldtown, 
it is difficult to trace others with certainty. We are 
sure that there was no Indian village at Castine, 
called at present Bagaduce^ a corruption for matchi- 
higwaduseh^ water had to drink. 

In the autumn of the year 1863, Mr. W. H. Weeks, 
while at work on the road leading to the battery 
which the government was erecting at the mouth of 
the harbor of Castine, found an ancient relic near 
the old brick battery, known as the '' Lower Fort," 
not far from the mouth of the harbor. It is a piece 
of sheet copper, about eight inches by ten, with the 
following inscription, whose letters appear to have 
been scratched or written with some pointed instru- 
ment : — 

1648. 8. lYK. F. 

LEO PAEISIN 

CAPYC. MISS. 

POSYI HOC FY- 
, NDTM IK HNE- 

EM KKJE DM^ 

SAlSrCT^ SPEI. 

1648. 8. Junii. Frater Leo Parisinus Missiona- 
rius posui hoc fundamentum in honorem Kostrse 
Dominse Sanct^e Spei. 

1648, 8th of June. I, Brother Leo, of Paris, 
Capuchin, Missionary, laid this foundation in honor 
of Our Lady of the Holy Hope. 

"We know that Capuchins were stationed on the 



54 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

coast of Maine as chaplains to French posts. Tliey 
had a monastery on the Penobscot and an hospice on 
the Kennebec. From this inscription it appears that 
the convent must have been near Castine ; and from 
that place they may have attended the missions of 
the Penobscot Indians, but it does not prove that 
the Indians had any settlement at or near Castine. 
We cannot give any estimate of the number of the 
Penobscot Indians, but they are believed to have 
been about twenty-four hundred men, women, and 
children. 

The grand settlement of the Etchimins was on the 
St. Croix river, and on the Schoodic Lakes on both 
branches of the river. The Indians of this river 
have always been called Etchimins^ and the St.' 
Croix river was called the river of the Etchimins. 
Its real Indian name is P eskadaTniuk'kanti^^ it goes 
iijp into the open fields. This river is at present 
called St. Croix river, because it runs in the form of 
a cross ; one branch goes up northeast to the 
Schoodic lakes, that bound the State of Maine and 
l^ew Brunswick ; the other branch runs westward 
to the Schoodic lakes towards the Passadurtikeag 
river, point where it falls on gravel. The eastern 
branch is called by the Indians CheputnaticooJc^ low 
land near the river / the western branch is named 
Peshadamiukkanty., it goes up into the open fields / 
hence Schoodic-lahes^ open-field-lakes.^ The Indian 
villages on this river were few and small. At pre- 
sent there is yet a small tribe called Passamaquoddy^ 

* Charlevoix, vol. i., liv. iii., p. 133. 
f Open by fire. Schooie mesLnsJire. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 55 

a corruption of the word Peslcamaquontik^ deriving 
the name from the river Pe8kadaraiukkant\ and not 
from the word Quoddy, haddock^ as it is erroneously 
believed. It is true that they at present call them- 
selves Quoddy Indians, but I have been informed by 
very old Indians that their name was PesTcama- 
quonty. We know from ancient writers that the 
Micmacs did not know the cod-fish, and this was 
probably the case with the Etchimins. 

I feel nearly certain that there was no village 
at Indian island^ between Bear island and Camjpo- 
lyeUo island in Passamaquoddy Bay. The natives 
have occupied that island since the time of De- 
Monts^ and from thence they moved to their present 
village at Syhaih^ Pleasant-point. Their ancient 
village was Gunasqiiamehooh^ long-gravel-har-joining- 
the-island, on the British side, where now stands the 
city of St. Andrew. There they leased some land to 
certain Englishmen for a few years, but at the expi- 
ration of the time, when they asked their land back, 
they were not onl}^ refused, but they were forced to 
leave their native place ; hence they were obliged to 
move to an island in the bay, now called Indian 
island. They remained there for a few years, when 
that island was either given or sold by the Bri- 
tish government, and the Indians again compelled 
to-^move away. They wandered for several years 
about Eastport, when they were allowed by the 
government of the State of Maine to have a few 
acres of land at Pleasant-point as a permanent settle- 
ment, where they at present reside on a dry and 
sandy beach. There was also another village where 



56 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

Peinbroke is, called Imnar'^lcuan^ where we make 
maple'Sugar. 

The other settlement was on the St. John's river, 
and there they had several large villages. The In- 
dians of this river are said to have been numerous 
and powerful. This river was called St. John by 
the French, because they entered it on the day of 
the festival of this saint, but it was called Onigundi 
by its inhabitants, and TJlasteku by the western 
Etchimins and Abnakis. The Indians on this river 
were called accordingly Onigundieh and Ulastehu- 
hiek. The name in both dialects signifies good river^ 
that is, clear of obstructions for navigation. We do 
not know of any particular name of the Indian vil- 
lages on this river, except that the place of the pre- 
sent city of St. John was called by the natives Me- 
narhwesse^ the weather is inconstant^ that is, now 
clear and on a sudden cloudy and foggy. They had 
a village near Frederick-town^ and another on the 
river Tohic {alder-trees). 

The opinion of those who assert that the abori- 
gines of St. John's river were numerous and pow- 
erful, must be incorrect. "We have no monument 
to support it. This error must have originated by 
confounding the Etchimins with the Micmacs^ who 
were powerful and very numerous. This is con- 
firmed by the fact that those writers call the Etchi- 
mins Mareschites^ and they say that Etchimins 
means canoe-men. N'ow Mareschites indicates the in- 
habitants of the Ifiramichi river in ISTew Brunswick, 
and the inhabitants of the Miramichi river were and 
are Micmacs, and not Etchimins. Moreover, Etchimin 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 57 

does not mean canoe-men^ but simply onen^ whereas 
Souriquois (the Micmacs) means good canoe-Qnen^'^ 
resolving the word thus, so-uli-quoit^ which are roots 
of these three words, tchim^ man^ pronounced by the 
Micmacs shiin and swi^ which in union of the word 
uri (for uli, c/ood)^ for euphony's sake, makes so-uri, 
or s-uri, and aguiten, canoe, which in composition 
drops the a, making s-uli-quit, pronounced by the 
French souriquoas. Moreover, the MlramicJii river 
is called by Quartier canoe, or hoat-river, not that 
it was the meaning of the word Miramichi, but from 
the inhabitants of that river. The French after- 
wards called the Souriquois by the nickname of Mic- 
nnacs, that is, secrets-])7xcctising-7nen, on account of 
their medicine-men and jugglers, who were nume- 
rous and famous amongst them. Mareschite comes 
from Malike, which in old Abnaki, and also in Dela- 
ware, means witchcraft ; hence the French name 
Micmac is a substitute for Mareschite. 

The Micmacs were a large and powerful nation, 
occupying the present Nova Scotia, the Atlantic coast 
of New Brunswick, the southern shore of the mouth 
of the great St. Lawrence, the islands on the gulf of 
the same river as far east as Weiofoiindland. They 
were valiant and powerful, and numbered several 
thousands. In 1760, when Fr. Maynard made his 
submission to the British, he said that the Micmacs 
were three thousand, yet their number at that time 
was verv much reduced. The number of the Indian 



* The word Micmac is a nickname given by the French to the 
natives of Nova Scotia. 

4 



58 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

villages in the territory of the Micmacs must have 
been large. A French gentleman, in a letter writ- 
ten in 1710, giving an account of the country of 
Acadia, or rather of the present JS^ova Scotia, says 
that in the whole Peninsula there were only three 
towns, namely, Port Moyal, the present Annapolis^ 
in the Bay of Fundy ; Les Mines^ which must be 
either the present Minadie^ in the Bay of Chignecto- 
strait {wogogueguetum\^ or some place in the Mines- 
strait, or basin ; the other, Beaubassin, good hasiuj 
must be the present Port Joli, in Queen's county, 
on the Atlantic shore. But this French gentleman 
could not have been acquainted with the other vil- 
lages of IS^ova Scotia. From a map of Ducreux, 
drawn in 1660, half a century earlier than the above- 
mentioned letter, we know that there existed also 
the village of Canzo (Campseium), named after a 
French navigator named Canse,t Halifax (Portus S. 
Helen 8e), Margaret's Bay (Sinus S. Margaritse), Yar- 
mouth (Portum), and Egerton (Wegogueguets). 

Besides these villages in Nova Scotia, there were 
several others in New Brunswick, towards the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, namely, Pigihiicto, or Elagihucto, 
the prayer fire / another at the right of the mouth 
of the Mira'inicM river, called Miramichi villagey 
from the name of the river, which means, river of 
the jugglers, riviere des MicmacsJ^ Its location 
must have been the present Nelson village, at the 

* Ducreux's map. \ Thevet. 

\ The Penobscot Indians translate the word Miramichi, it has wad- 
ding. They give this translation, because they have lost the word 
maliku (witchcraft). 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 59 

confluence of the Miramiclii river and the southwest 
branch of the same. Another, called Nijpigiqxdt 
(nepegequitius pagus), trees good for canoes^ at the 
left of the mouth of the Nipisiguit river, where 
Bathurst now stands. Another at the left of 
the mouth of the HistigoucJi river, on Chaleurs 
Bay^^ in Bonaventure count}^, Canada E. The name 
of this Indian village was Papechigtinach {place 
for spring amusements^ pipechigunatius), but now 
it is improperly called Bistigutch. Another on 
the Grand Cascapediac river, in the counties of 
BirriQuski and Gaspe^ Lower Canada. The correct 
name of the village and river was Kigicapigiak^ the 
great establishment^ or Great Harbor. We are not 
aware that there was any Indian settlement on the 
Island of Anticosti, or rather Natiskotis (open fields, 
that is, opened by being burned), nor that there was 
any in Prince Edward^s island, or on the Magdalen 
islands, but they had a settlement in Newfound- 
land. There is yet a place there called Indian vil- 
lage, near lake Badger in Fogo county, between the 
river of Exploits and N'otre-Bame bay. There are 
two rivers in that part of the island which still bear 
the name of Indian rivers. These two rivers enter 
HalVs hay. There is also another river called Indian 
river., and it enters the eastern part of the Bathurst., 
or Victoria lake, which river may be considered as 
the commencement of the river of the Exploits, the 
largest and longest river existing in Newfoundland. 

* This bay was discovered by Jacques Cartier, in his first voyage, 
1531. He gave to it the name of Bay des Chaleurs (of heat), on 
account of the excessive heat which existed there when he entered it 
on the 3d of July. 




CHAPTEE IX. 



RELIGION AXD SUPEKSTITION. 



>T is certain that the inhabitants of Acadia were 
not idolaters, nor imbued with the errors of 
the Manicheans, as they have been wrongfully 
accused. It is true, that they in some manner wor- 
shipped the Sun, offering sacrifices to it, but the In- 
dians explain, that that material luminary was not the 
object of their worship, but it only represented ano- 
ther luminary invisible to our eyes ; and as the sun, 
illuminating the whole earth, gives life and light to 
every object, so it was representing an invisible Be- 
ing, who gives light, animation, life, and support to 
the whole world. It is true, that they believed in 
an evil spirit called by them Matcliiniioesky or Mat- 
chi-Nixkani^ to whom they also offered sacrifices, yet 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR -HISTORY. 61 

it was not to them an object of worship, but only 
they thought thus to appease him that he should not 
hurt them in their hunting and fishing excursions, 
or in their battles. They believed only in one Su- 
preme Being, Creator of all things, whom they call- 
ed the Great Spirit, Ketchiniwesk^ or K'' cM-Nixkam^ 
who was the master and ruler of all, and superior to 
all Spirits both good and evil, and this Being is what 
we call God. The evil Spirit was never called by 
them Great Spirity but only, evil Spirit. They had 
a confused idea of the Creation of man, and of the 
deluge, but they possessed a distinct knowledge of 
a future reward for the just, who were to be intro- 
duced in a good land full of game and hunting and 
fishing grounds; and in a future punishment for 
the wicked, who were to be scalped and otherwise 
tormented by the hands of their enemies. They 
had also a knowledge of a middle state, where they 
in some manner could be assisted and relieved 
by their living friends. Hence, they thought to do 
some good to the souls of the dead by setting tire to 
the wigwams where they had died, by killing the 
best dog, by burying or hanging to some tree the 
bow and arrows belonging to the deceased, by carry- 
ing victuals to the graves, by singing, dancing, and 
crying, by cutting their flesh, and such like Indian 
practices. They performed these things with a great 
and strict scrupulosity, not by a mere custom or 
ceremony, but because they were truly impressed 
with the idea of doing some good to their departed 
friends and relations. In their conversion to Catho- 
licity, they found the doctrine of purgatory very 



62 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

reasonable and conformable to their ancient tradition 
of a middle state, and they had a contempt for Pro- 
testantism for their negligence in assisting the dead, 
and in refusing to offer prayers for the repose of 
their souls. 

Their superstition was extreme, and so much inter- 
mixed with acts of religion, that it has given strong 
motives to accuse them of idolatry. The Penobscot 
Indians believed that an evil spirit, called Pamola 
(he curses on the mountain) — resided, during the 
summer season, on the top of Mount Katahdin — 
(the greatest of mountains.) They offered sacrifices 
to him to appease him, so that he should not curse 
them, or otherwise injure them. Although they 
hunted and fished in the woods and lakes around 
Mount Katahdin, yet they never attempted to go on 
the top of that mountain, in the assurance that they 
would never be able to return from that place, but be 
either killed or devoured by the evil spirit Pamola. 
They pretended to have seen this spirit on the top 
of the mountain on several occasions while hunting 
or fishing around it. It was but till late, that they 
have attempted to ascend that mountain. It is not 
long since that a party of white people desired to 
go on the top of Mount Katahdin, and took some 
Indians to accompany them as guides. The Indians 
escorted them to the foot of the mountain, but they 
refused to go further, fearing to be either killed 
or devoured by Pamola. No persuasion from the 
party could induce them to proceed further; on the 
contrary, the Indians tried to dissuade the party 
from ascending the mountain, speaking to them of 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 63 

this evil spirit, and how many Indians had been 
killed or devoured by him, and that no man ever re- 
turned, who dared to go on Mount Katahdin. The 
Indians, however, were prevailed upon to wait for 
the descent of the party, who, in spite of the remon- 
strance of the Indians, ascended the mountain by 
themselves, without guides. They were quite sur- 
prised to see the party back, as they entertained no 
hope of their return, believing with certainty that 
they had been killed or devoured by Pamola. 

It would not be improper to give here a brief 
episode of the Indian tradition concerning this evil 
spirit Pamola^ residing upon Mount Katahdin — a 
mountain famous amongst the Indians of Maine — a 
tradition, which is believed by the Indians unto this 
very day. They relate that several hundred years 
ago, while a Penobscot Indian was encamped east- 
ward of Mount Katahdin on the autumn hunting 
season, a severe and unexpected fall of snow covered 
the whole land to the depth of several feet. Being 
unprovided with snow shoes, he found himself una- 
ble to return home. After remaining several days 
in the camp, blocked up with drifts of snow, and 
seeing no means of escape, he thought that he 
was doomed to perish ; hence, as it were through 
despair, he called with loud voice on Pamola for 
several times. Finally, Pamola made his appear- 
ance on the top of the mountain. The Indian took 
courage, and offered to him a sacrifice of oil and fat, 
which he poured and consumed upon burning coals 
out of the camp. As the smoke was ascending, 
Pamola was descending. The sacrifice was con- 



6i THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

sumed when this spirit got only half way down 
the mountain. Here the Indian took more oil and 
fat, and repeated the sacrifice, till Pamola arrived 
at the camp, and the Indian welcomed him, say- 
ing : " You are welcome, partner," Pamola re- 
j)lied : " You have done well to call me partner ; 
because you have called me by that name, you are 
saved, otherwise you w^ould have been killed by me. 
Ko Indian has ever called on me and lived, having 
always being devoured by me. ISTow I will take 
you on the mountain, and you shall be happy with 
me." Pamola put the Indian on his shoulders, bid 
him close the eyes, and in few moments, with a 
noise like the whistling of a powerful wind, they 
were inside of the mountain. The Indian describes 
the interior of Mount Katahdin as containino^ a 
good, comfortable wigwam, furnished with abun- 
dance of venison, and with all the luxuries of life, 
and that Pamola had wife and children living: in 
the mountain. Pamola gave him his daughter to 
wife, and told him that after one year he could re- 
turn to his friends on the Penobscot, and that he 
might go back to the mountain to see his wife any 
time he pleased, and remain as long as he wished. 
He w^as warned that he could not marry again, but 
if he should marry again, he would be at once trans- 
ported to Mount Katahdin, with no hope of ever 
more going out of it. After one year the Indian re- 
turned to Oldtown and related all that had happened 
to him in Mount Katahdin, and the circumstances 
through w^hich he got into it. The Indians persuaded 
him to marry again, which he at first refused, but 



THE ABKAKIS: AIN'D THEIR HISTORY. 65 

they at last prevailed on him to marry, but the 
morning after his marriage, he disappeared, and 
nothing more was heard of him ; they felt sure that 
he had been taken by Pamola into Mount Katahdin, 
as he had told them. 

This fact filled the Indians with consternation, and 
they conceived a great fear for this evil spirit, yet a 
young Indian woman constantly persisted in refusing 
to believe even in the existence of Pamola, unless 
she saw him with her own eyes. It happened one 
day, that while she was on the shores of the lake 
Amboctictus^'^ Pamola appeared to her and re- 
proached her with her incredulity. He took her by 
force, put her on his shoulders, and after a few mo- 
ments' flight, with a great whistling of wind, they 
were in the interior of the mountain. There she 
remained for one year, and was well treated, but was 
got with child by Pamola. A few months before 
her confinement, Pamola told her to go back to her 
relations, saying that the child that was to be born 
of her would be great, and would perform such 
wonders as to amaze the nation. He would have 
the power to kill any person or animal by simply 
pointing out at the object with the fore finger of 
his right hand. Hence, that the child was to be 
watched very closely till the age of manhood, 
because many evils might follow from that power. 

* Amboctictus is a lake near Mount Katahdin, on the south-west 
side. It appears that this lake was consecrated to Pamola. Am- 
boctictus means the Phallus. It is called so after a rock in that lake, 
that has the form of that part of the body when viewed at a dis- 
tance. Some Indians pronounce it Ambochictus. 

4.* 



6Q THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

But when the child grew up he would save his 
own nation from the hands of its enemies, and 
would confer many benefits to the people. If she 
should be in need of any assistance, she had nothing 
to do but to call on Pamola in any place she might 
be, and he would appear to her. He warned her 
not to marry again ; because if she should marry 
asain, both she and the child would at once be 
transported into Mount Katahdin for ever. He 
then put her on his shoulders in the same man- 
ner as he had done in taking her up to the moun- 
tain, and left her on the shore of the lake Amboctic- 
tus. She returned to Old-town, where she related 
all that had happened to her, and also that she had 
seen, in the mountain, that Indian, of whom I have 
made mention above. 

The child was born, and she took great care of 
him. She called several times on Pamola, who 
always made his appearance to her. When she 
wanted any venison, either into the woods or in the 
river, she had but to take the child, and holding his 
right hand, she stretched out his fore finger, and 
made it point out to a deer, or moose, and it at once 
fell dead. So, also, in a flock of ducks, she made 
the child's first finger single one out of the flock, 
which likewise fell dead. The child grew, and he 
was the admiration and pride of all. 

It happened one day, that while he was stand- 
ing at the door of the wigwam, he saw a friend 
of his mother coming. He announced it to her, and 
at the same time, with the first finger of his right 
hand, he pointed at him, and the man immediately 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 67 

dropped dead. This fact caused great consterna- 
tion, not only in the mother of the chikl, but also 
in the entire tribe, who looked on him as a very- 
dangerous subject among them. Everybody fled 
from his company, and even from his sight. The 
mother called on Pamola, and related to him what 
had happened, and also the fear and consternation 
in which she and the entire tribe were. Pamola told 
her that he had already warned her to watch the 
child, because the power conferred on the child 
might produce serious evils. He now advised her 
to keep the child altogether apart from society till 
the age of manhood, as he might be fatal with many 
others. The Indians wanted her to marry, but she 
refused on the ground of it being forbidden by 
Pamola, who was her husband, and in case of mar- 
riage, she and child both would be taken up Mount 
Katahdin. However, the Indians prevailed upon 
her, and she married, but in the evening of the mar- 
riage-day, while all the Indians w^ere gathered 
together in dancing and feasting for the celebration 
of the marriage, both she and the child disappeared 
for ever. 

This is, of course, a superstitious tale, made up by 
the prolific imagination of some Indians, yet we can 
perceive in it some vestiges of the fall of the first 
man, in having transgressed the command of God, 
and how it could be repaired only by God. We can 
also trace some ideas of the mystery of the Incarna- 
tion of the Son of God in the womb of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, mixed with fables, superstitions, and 
pagan errors. The appearance of God to Moses in 



68 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

a burning busli upon Mount Iloreb, may be glimpsed 
in Pamola appearing to the Indian on Mount Ka- 
tahdin, and so forth; yet these are but conjec- 
tures. 

Even at present they have several superstitious 
ideas ; for instance, they have never consented to en- 
large the graveyard at Old-town, which is over full 
of corpses, or to have a new one, because the old 
Indians persuade the young that if they enlarge it, 
or if they will have a new one, they would soon 
die to fill it. 

One evening I went to their settlement at Old- 
town to stop with them for a few days. I found the 
Indians in a great consternation, and in inquiring the 
cause of it, they related to me that since the death 
of an Indian, wdiich had happened a few days since, 
they had always found the door of the church open 
in the morning, although it had been very carefully 
locked in the evening. That they had watched dur- 
ing the night to see lest any person would open it ; 
that they had searched the church, yet, notwith- 
standing all this, the door of the church was found 
open every morning, which they attributed to the 
ghost of the late deceased Indian. I laughed at it, 
but they were serious. As my dwelling was con- 
nected with the church, the Indians felt uneasy for 
my safety during the night. About 11 o'clock p.m., 
four Indians came to me with a large dog, and I was 
entreated to accept that dog for the night, and to 
keep it in my bed-room in order to protect me 
against the ghost of the Indian. Of course, I re- 
fused it, assuring them there was no need of it. But 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 69 

it was of no use ; I was obliged to consent to have 
that clofT in another room between the house and the 
Church, in order to satisfy them. In the morning I 
showed to them that the door of the church was 
closed, and that nothing had happened during the 
night. I tried to persuade them that if the church 
door had in reality been found opened in the morn- 
ing, some person had opened it to frighten them. 
They, however, were not satisfied by this explana- 
tion. 

They have yet the practice of building a large fire 
and dancing around it at midsummer-day, and they 
generally do it on the day of St. John the Baptist. 
Hence, they call the day of St. John, edutsi pesha- 
mek skute^ it comes the sparhling fire. This is an old 
Phenician custom, by which the Phenicians wor- 
shipped the Sun. This custom is found, even at 
present, amongst some inhabitants of Ireland, who 
build bonfires called Baaltinne. 

The Indians of St. John^ gave a kind of worship 
to a dead tree, standing up at the fall of St. John's 
river in a basin of four hundred feet of circumfer- 
ence. This tree appeared floating, and never leaves 
the place, notwithstanding the current. Sometimes 
it appeared covered by the water, and going around 
like a pivot. They attached to it skins of beavers 
and other animals. In undertaking a voyage, if 
they could not see that tree, it was considered to be 
a bad omen for that voyage. 

Many and wonderful things are related of the 
superstition and witchcrafts of the Micmacs, and 

* Charlevoix, vol. 1, liv. iii. 



70 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

especially of their conjurors, medicine-men, and 
jugglers, which was the cause why these Indians 
were called Micmacs by the French. A French 
gentleman, in a printed relation on the Micmacs, and 
Charlevoix, quote eye-witnesses of the wonders ope- 
rated by the Micmac enchanters and jugglers in 
the thick and solitary woods, whither they used 
to resort for enchantments. They testify to have 
seen the woods trembling and shaking under their 
feet by their enchantments ; of having observed 
contortions and forms taken by the Indians, not 
possible to mere men ; of having heard voices, not 
human, and many other wonderful things. If a 
maid, during her monthly periods, happened to step 
on an unmarried man, he believed that he would be 
disabled in all his limbs, and he did not move a 
step, till the imaginary distemper (the month) was 
over. So if she touched a firelock, it was believed to 
be enchanted, and no game was killed with it any 
more. Before a battle, the warriors had a fight with 
the women ; if these had the best, it was considered 
a good sign, but if the women had the worst, it was 
taken as a bad omen. 





o 

8 

■< 

Q 




CHAPTER X. 

PUBLIC LIFE. 

^f^HE Etchemins, Micmacs, and Abnakis, are 
often considered as one nation, not only on 
account of the similarity of their language, 
customs, suavity of manner, religion, and attachment 
to the French, but also on account of their league in 
defending themselves against the English. Although 
the Micmacs are generally somewhat smaller in size 
than the other Indians of Acadia and New France, 
yet they are equally brave. They have long made 
war against the Esquimaux (eaters of raw flesh)^ 
whom they have followed and attacked in their 
caverns and rocks of Labrador. Newfoundland 
must have several times been the field of hard bat- 



72 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

ties between the Micmacs and the Esquimaux ; the 
latter were always defeated by the former. 

Their Chief was, and is yet called Saghem by 
some tribes, and Sangman by others, which is the 
same word, but pronounced differently, and it means 
over the whole world. The wife or wives of the 
Chief, take the title of Sdngindnsque^ but they had 
no power. The same is at present with the wife of 
the Governor of the tribe. The sons are called 
Sangmansis^ the daughters, Sangnnanskwessis^ the 
relations, Sangmanhwagodeh. The office of the 
Chief has never been hereditary amongst the In- 
dians, but the Supreme Magistrate was elected gene- 
rally from amongst those who had larger families. 
All, especially the youth, obeyed the Saghem with 
great submission and respect. The Chiefs of entire 
nations had other subordinate Chiefs, who presided 
over small tribes, and settled their difficulties. Dur- 
ing the summer season, all the Chiefs assembled in 
a designated spot in order to transact the affairs of 
the whole nation. Small quarrels were settled in 
the camp, and often finished in a fight, without, 
however, their doing each other much injury. 

When the Chiefs thought that they had received 
any wrong, they assembled all their people in some 
fixed places, and to encourage them, they made a 
speech, in which they displayed great eloquence. 
Then lifting up their axes, the question was proposed, 
whether they would not all agree to take the inju- 
ries into their hands. If the whole company con- 
sented, they made a mock skirmish among them- 
selves, as if they were in earnest. They also had 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 73 

recourse to their conjurers and fortune-tellers, who 
consulted the devil. 

Their bravery in war was great. As an instance 
of it, I may relate their battles in the war against 
the English in the year 1682. There was a French 
fort on the Penobscot river, commanded by the Che- 
valier de Grandfontaine, in 1673, and another on the 
St. John's river commanded by Mr. Marion. In 
1674, Mr. de Chambly succeeded the Chevalier de 
Grandfontaine."^ A short time after, in the same 
year, he was surprised on the 10th of August, by an 
English man-of-war with a crew of a Flemish pri- 
vateer, one hundred men strong, which had lain 
in disguise there for four days. Mr. de Cham- 
bly was not prepared to fight, he had only thirty 
persons in the fort, yet they defended it bravely for 
one hour, when Mr. de Chambly received a musket- 
ball through his body, and was obliged to retire ; 
then his men and the fort, both badly armed, sur- 
rendered at discretion. They took, also, the fort at 
St. John's, which was afterwards destroyed by the 
Dutch. Mr. de Chambly was surprised at this 
action, both countries being then in peace, and the 
author of this outrage had no commission, but he 
had been instigated by the Bostonians, who could 
not bear the French to be in possession of the Pe- 
nobscot. In 1689, the French complained of this 
act perpetrated by the English and Bostonians, but 
in vain, hence a war ensued. The Indians joined 
the French. The Etchemins and Abnakis made an 

* Charlevoix, vol. 1, liv. x. 



74 THE ABITAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

expedition against the English fort Pemkwit (it is 
crooked) — a very strong fort between the Penobscot 
and Kennebec rivers. The fort was defended by 
twenty cannons. The Indians took it by surprise, 
breaking down the gate. The English retired to 
some houses, carrying with them ten cannons, the 
others being taken by the Indians. The English 
opened a terrible fire upon the fort, but to no ef- 
fect. Daring the night the Indians summoned the 
English to go away from those houses, but their com- 
mander laughed, saying, that he was tired and 
wanted to sleep. During the night the Indians pre- 
pared to attack the English in the morning, and 
they did so at daybreak. A sharp fire was kept up 
on both sides, but the English w^ere obliged to capi- 
tulate, and the Indians let them depart without any 
outrage. It is worth mentioning, that the Indians 
found in the fort a barrel of brandy, which they 
spilled out without touching it. The English retired 
to an island, not far from the coast. The Indians 
desired to drive them away from that place, but 
they desisted and went back to the Penobscot in 
the sloops which they had taken from the English, 
having killed the crew. 




CHAPTEE XL 



ASTKONOMY AND DIVISION OF TIME. 




^HE Indians possessing no astronomical instru- 
ments, no observatories, no celestial globes, 
and no maps, are not expected to have made 
such progress in astronomy as exclusively seems 
to belong to civilized nations. Yet to think that 
the Aborigines of this continent were, and are 
altogether destitute of it, it would be an error. 
True, they have no astronomical instruments, and 
whether they ever had any is a question at present 
involved in darkness. Yet nature seems to have 
endowed them with very acute senses, and they 
use them with much skill and accuracy. Many 
small things, little circumstances, which generally 



76 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

pass unobserved by the whites, are closely investi- 
gated and examined by them. They can discover 
the approaching of the enemies, their number and 
distance ; they can tell whether they have passed 
through a certain locality, wdiat direction they have 
followed, the place from which they came, etc., by 
observing their footsteps, by examining the bending 
of the grass and bushes, by putting their ears close 
to the earth, and by their scent, which faculty is very 
powerful in the Indians. It is r-elated that once a 
Micmac Indian entered a Frenchman's house in 
Nova Scotia, and after a little while he asked for 
some brandy. The Frenchman denied having any, 
but the Indian said that it was not true, and by the 
smell he discovered the place where it was kept. 

Except the religious ideas attached to the Sun, we 
do not know that it was an object of astronomical 
observations to the Indians ; but the Moon and Stars 
were and are closely examined. They can tell with 
great ease the part of day and night, corresponding 
very nigh to our astronomical manner of counting 
the time. They can indicate with great precision the 
rising and setting of the Sun, Moon, and principal 
Stars, the degrees of their elevation above the hori- 
zon, their zenith, etc. They had and have yet a kind 
of -sun-dial by observing their own shadow and that 
of the trees. They can travel without difficulty or 
danger of being lost through the thickest woods, 
even by night, and when they can see neither the 
Moon nor the Stars. They observe the bark of the 
trees, and they can find some difference between 
that part of the tree turned to the south and that 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 77 

exposed to the north. The shape of the tree re- 
veals to the Indian the south from the north — the 
south side being more hixurious, and the limbs larger 
and in better condition. 

They knew the constellation Hyades called by them 
Menejpessunh {our rain is falling in ahundance) ; its 
setting, rising, elevation, zenith, etc., was closely ob- 
served. They looked on the rising of the Hyades as 
an indication of wet weather. Yet they could not 
tell that they were at the head of Taurus. They 
were acquainted with the Pleiades, although they do 
not know that those stars were on the neck of the 
same Taurus. They were familiar with the Lyre, 
the Head of Medusa, and many other groups of stars. 
They could point out Orion, Sirius, and several 
other stars of first magnitude. They had the know- 
ledge of the Milky-way, of which they related many 
curious and fabulous stories. They knew the pUnet 
Yenus, called by them ^fsarHo, it goes in advance 
(from maassa and otto), and its movements were close- 
ly examined. They considered it to be the morning 
star, but we do not know that they identified it with 
the evening star. It is worth observing that this 
was the only planet known to the ancients before the 
historical times. Homer and Hesiod were acquaint- 
ed with it, but they considered the morning and 
evening star as two different bodies. Further inves- 
tigations may decide whether the Indians had any 
idea of the movement of the earth round the Sun. 
We know that Copernicus had found in the writings of 
the ancients, that Nicetas, Heraclites, and Ecphantus 
had thought of the possibility of the motion of the 



78 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

earth, and that Aristarchus of Samos had a strong 
idea that the earth revolved in an oblique circle 
around the Sun, and that also revolved daily on its 
own axis. It is related that amongst the Egyptian 
ruins a stone was found representing the Copernic 
system ages before the time of the immortal astrono- 
mer ; there is therefore a possibility that the natives 
of this Continent had an idea of the movement of the 
earth round the Sun. It cannot be said with cer- 
tainty that they knew the polar star, but they could 
with great precision point out the seven Stars of 
Ursa Minor which never set ; they could describe 
the circle performed by the Star at the end of the 
tail of this constellation. The present Indians pre- 
serve by tradition the knowledge of all these astrono- 
mical observations. But the great object, from 
which they depend in their astronomical observa- 
tions-,* is the moon. It is from the moon that they 
can tell the kind of weather which they expect to 
have. From the moon they can foresee the approach- 
ing of a storm. If the moon appears pale, it is for 
them a sign of rain or'snow ; if red, it is a prognos- 
tic of wind. If the aspect of the new moon is such 
as to appear bent on the earth, it is a sign of a 
stormy month ; but if it appears standing upright on 
the earth, it is an indication of fair weather during 
its course. The moon regulates the months and 
the year. Every month commences from the new 
moon and terminates with it. They distinguish the 
four seasons, the opening of the leaves of the trees 
and breaking of the ice, the warm weather and fish- 
ing season, the hunting season, frosts and falling of 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 79 

the leaves, the closing of the rivers by ice, and the 
deep snow season. The new year commences from 
the longest moon, that is, when the nights are the 
longest. The nights are the object of their calcula- 
tions, no consideration being taken from the length 
of the day. But the Indians had no almanac, at 
least there is no indication of their having had any. 
The one used by them is of recent date introduced 
by me for their convenience, because it has not 
been possible to make them understand our alma- 
nac according to their astronomical ideas. To this 
object I have held several conferences with the old- 
est and most intelligent Indians about their astro- 
nomy, and there we agreed to fix the commence- 
ment of the new year permanently on the new moon 
preceding Christmas. This will facilitate to them 
the intelligence of the movable festivals of Chris- 
tianity. 

They count twelve months or rather moons in the 
year, but their months cannot correspond with ours, 
as ours are based upon the revolution of the earth 
around the Sun, whereas those of the Indians are regu- 
lated by the motion of the Moon around the earth, 
beginning in the time of its conjunction with the 
Sun. Here is the table of the seasons and months. 

Spring. Summer. Autumn. "Winter. 

Siquan. Niben. Nekiiongo. Peboon. 

Months. 

January — Onglusamwessit j it is hard to get a 
living. 



80 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIK HISTOEY. 

Febrnaiy — Taquaslc'niTcizoos ; moon in which 
there is crust on the snow. 

March — Pnhodamwikizoos ; moon in which the 
hens lay. 

April — Amiosswilcizoos / moon in which we catch 
fish. 

Maj — KihkaiMzoos / moon in which we soio. 

June — MushosMkizoos / moon in which we catch 
young seals. 

July — Atchittaihizoos / 'inoon in which the hemes 
are rijpe. ** 

August — WiMaihizoos ; moon in which there is 
a heap of eels on the sand. 

September — MantcheicaclokliiMzoos ; moon in 
which there are herds of mooses^ hears^ etc. 

October — Assehaskioats / there is ice on the hanks. 

ITovember — AhonomhsswiJcizoos j moon in which 
the frost fish comes. 

December — Ketchihizoos / the long moon» 

Onglusaimcessit, the name for the month of Janu- 
ary, is of late date. The former name for this month 
or moon was Mehv:)as'' que^ the cold is great ^ but after 
their village near Norridgewock was destroyed by 
the Bostonians and Mohawks, and the Indians were 
deprived of their rich land, and hunting-ground, on 
the Kennebec river without any compensation, and 
thus obliged to rove for a living ;- they found very 

* The Abnakis Indians, after the destruction of their last village 
near Norridgewock, found an asylum amongst the St. Francis, Penob- 
scot, and Passamaquoddy Indians. Many, however, soon left St. 
Francis in Canada and returned to Maine. 




COKPTIS CHRIS TrS MY AT 
OLD-TO^^^ imiAN VIIilAGE, 
0^ THE PENOBSCOT PvIYER. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 81 

difficult to obtain it especially on the month of Janu- 
ary, that is on the moon which generally falls be- 
tween January and February ; hence they called it 
Oiiglusamwessit, on account of their difficulty to ob- 
tain a subsistence. They have sufiered and do yet 
suffer extremely in the winter, especially those In- 
dians who at present dwell at Pleasant Point, in this 
State. It is in this moon that the red man remem- 
bers tlie dense forests and the extensive hunting 
grounds of the Kennebec, when in a cold and stormy 
night he gazes on his dying fire, having burned the 
last stick, which the benevolent tide has drifted on 
the shore with charitable bnt sparing hand.* Be- 
numbed and half starved he falls asleep on his mat, 
and dreams of the Mekwas'que moon on the shores 
of the Kennebec. 

When there are thirteen moons in a year the 
Indians count thirteen months, or moons, putting one 
moon between Atchittaikizoos and Wikkaikizoos, 
that is between the moons of July and August, 
which they call AbonarawiJcizoos, let this moon go^ 
thus having an intercalary month between July 
and August. In this case the month of July of 
the Indians, that is, the moon Atchittaikizoos, begins 
in our month of June, then in our month July be- 
gins the Indian month Abonamwikizoos, and the 
Indian month of August Wikkaikizoos will com- 
mence from the new moon w^hich falls in our Au- 
gust. This coiTection in their astronomical compu- 



* The Indians at Pleasant Point have no fire-wood, except what 
they pick up on the shore drifted by the tide from the mills of Calais. 

5 



82 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

tation of the moons will make the year finish at the 
new moon of Ketchikizoos — the new moon in Decem- 
ber before Christmas. As in some years there are 
two new moons in December, and in some others 
there is none before Christmas, in both cases the 
new moon of Ketchikizoos, the commencement of 
the new year, is always the new moon preceding 
Christmas, whether it falls in December or in No- 
vember. It is to be observed, that before the pub- 
lication of the present Indian Almanack they 
could not find out that our year had thirteen moons 
till they arrived to the long moon (Ketchikizoos), or 
near to it ; it was only then and not before that time, 
that they discovered it, and then in their backward 
calculations, they skipped the moon after that in 
which the berries were ripe, saying Abonamwihizoos, 
let this moon go. The reason why they skip that 
moon rather than any other in the year, is because 
in that month, the nights being very short, they can 
dispense with it easier than with other months hav- 
ing longer nights. 

They had no idea of the division of time in weeks, 
nor of the division of the week in seven days, hence 
they have no corresponding name for the word week. 
The division which they use at present has been in- 
troduced by the Europeans, and it is not generally 
nnderstood by them even in our days. Their present 
division of the days of the week is the following. 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 83 

Table. 
Sunday, — Sande^ Sunday"^. 

Monday — T'^kissande^ after Sunday^ or AmiJcawa- 
salokke^ first working day. 

Tuesday — Nisidaalohha^ second working day. 
Wednesday — N '' setaalokka^ third working day. 
Thursday — leotaalokka^ fourth working day. 
Friday — Skehewatook^ the day of the cross. 
Saturday — Katausande^ the day before Sunday. 

A week, — Etsi tanbawanikessughenakMwighis' 
sant^ from seven to seven days it is the festival of 
Sunday, ad verhiim^ it is holy. Although they had 
no division of the month in weeks, and of the week 
in seven days, yet their months or moons are divided 
in nine parts, not of the same length ; or I would 
rather say that in each moon they count nine phases 
of unequal distance from each other. They are the 
following. 

1. Nangusa., she is born (the new moon). 

2. Nenaghil^ she grows (from the fifth to the sixth 
day of the moon). 

3. Kegan-demeghil, soonfidl (from the eleventh to 
the twelfth day). 

4. Wemeghil^ she isfxdl. 

5. Pekinem^ after heing full (the sixteenth, seven- 
teenth, and eighteenth day). 

6. Utsine^ she commences to die (the twenty-second 
and twenty-third day). 

♦ From the French word Saint. 



84 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

7. Pebassine^ she is half dead. 

8. Metchina v. Sesemina^ she is entirely dead 
{when nearly disappearing). 

9. Nepa^ she is dead (no moon). 

Tbej liave no standing numerical computation, yet 
they count by decades with great correctness. If a 
calculation is extensive, after a certain number of 
decades, they put a stone or piece of wood for a mark 
and commence counting again. They repeat it as 
often as they need it. Their great events are record- 
ed by a stone or by a pictorial inscription, but they 
cannot mark the date, because, as we have stated 
above, they possess no standing numerical computa- 
tion. The date is kept by tradition, but after a num- 
ber of generations, it is lost in the darkness of time. 

They do not divide the day by hours, and very 
few even now understand our division of the day 
into twenty-four hours. Some of them have clocks 
and even watches, yet very few of them can tell 
the time. On several occasions they have brought 
me a watch sometimes going, but generally stopped, 
and asked me to tell the time of the day by that 
watch. I gave them the time from my watch, yet 
they did not appear to understand it. They go 
by the rising, elevation, and setting of the sun, 
moon, and stars. When I wanted an Indian at 
any particular time, I was obliged to express it by 
pointing with my hand the elevation of the sun from 
the horizon, corresponding to the hour of the day. 
They now reckon two mornings, whicli they call 
Awinotz-spanswi^ morning of the whites^ and Alna- 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 85 

Imj-spanswi, morning of the Indians, The former 
is from day-light to after sun-rising, the hitter is 
about eight or nine o'clock a.m. making an average 
between summer and winter. In the night they ob- 
serve the different phases of the moon in order to 
make an allowance for the change of the time of her 
rising. 

Like us they divide the astronomical day in day and 
night, but differently from us they do not distribute 
it into equal parts. They enumerate in the day as 
well as in the night six unequal portions, or I may say 
hours, which however are longer or shorter accord- 
ing to the season. They are the following. 

Division of the Day. 

1— Uspanswiwi, the Ireahing of the day. 
2 — Tse^hioat^ it is day. 
3 — Paskwe, it is noon. 

4:—Pedagusse, it crosses the line and goes on the 
other side. 

o — Nehile, it sets. 

Q—Maglangwrile, v. Icegan jMsed^, the tiuilight 
[evening). 

Divisio:n" of the J^ight. 
1 — PisJde, it is night. 
2 — Agwa7ietej)oket, it is after night. 
^—Amawitepokei, it is hefore midnight. 
4 — Epassietepohet, it is midnight. 
^—Agwamitepohet, it is after midnight. 
^ — Pitsetepoket, the night loill soon he over. 

These are the few Astronomical notices which I 



3Q THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

have collected from manuscripts and from the tra- 
dition of the Indians. I feel confident that in past 
generations the Indians had a better acquaintance 
with the science of Astronomy, but since their inter- 
course with the Europeans, they have undergone a 
material deterioration in their physical as well as in 
their mental faculties. Each of them could and can 
yet, in some degree, rise and make in public a speech 
with such solidity and natural eloquence as to sur- 
prise even our orators, who require study and pre- 
paration in order to appear in public. In former 
times they could converse amongst themselves by 
mere signs, and gesticulations without articulated 
sounds. They could send messages and speeches to 
absent persons in small pieces of wood or in strings 
prepared with knots and folded, in a bundle, which 
the messenger or orator could deliver by unfolding 
the string from the bundle and read the speech or 
message, as if it were in a book. We have yet a 
more striking evidence of this deterioration, in the art 
of writing and reading. At the time of the discovery 
of the American continent, the natives had a thorough 
system of hand-writing by hieroglyphics, very much 
like that of the Chinese and Japanese. The Hie- 
roglyphics of the Mexican Indians are well known 
to the literary world, but those of the North-Eastern 
native Americans, although familiar to the Catho- 
lic Missionaries, yet had never been noticed by the 
antiquarian and scientiiic men. A specimen of 
them was presented by me to Samuel F. Haven, 
Esq., the learned librarian of the American Anti- 
quarian Society, which he noticed in his report at 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 87 

the annual meeting, held at Worcester Oct. 12, 1858. 
Another specimen also I have exhibited to the Maine 
Historical Society, which was inserted in the sixth 
volume of the Collections of the same Society. But 
lately the Hev. Charles Kauder, Missionary of the 
Micmacs at Tracadie, Nova Scotia, zealous of the 
salvation of the souls of the poor Micmac Indians, 
has with indefatigable labor, not only learned this 
North-Eastern Hierogl3^phic language, but also has 
succeeded, through his friends in Europe, in induc- 
ing the Austrian Government to print an edition of 
the Prayer-book and Catechism, written with hiero- 
glyphics in the Micmac language. The same Gov- 
ernment further presented him all the type and 
plates, expressly cut and cast, for his use in future 
editions. The Government of this State has made 
some efforts to teach the Indians to read and write 
English. But the teacher being a foreigner,* teach- 
ing in a foreign language, and not able to speak or 
understand a word of the native American language, 
has proved a great failure. I have seen Indians 
not able to read, after having been at school for 
four years, if we can call going to school the fashion 
of the Indians in frequenting it for two or three 
days, sometimes weeks, then growing tired, and fly- 
ing into the woods to hunt and set traps for wild 
animals. Another obstacle is the natural distrust 
of the Indians in the regard to the white. 

* The English language is foreign to the Indians, and the white 
or black people, although born in America, are foreigners, to them. 










CHAPTEE XIT. 



DOMESTIC LIFE. 

>N their domestic life the Indians were kind and 
very hospitable. They most willingly divi- 
ded their game with their relations and friends. 
The stranger Avas always welcome to their table. 
Their charity was not selfish, but sincere and true, 
which in a particular manner was practised towards 
the old people. If an old man had a son killed in 
war another young man was procured for him from 
amongst the nation that killed him. They were 
strono; and well built, but like the rest of the Indians 
they did not work much, nor did they like it, and 
even at present they have no relish for labor. Their 
necessities, however, at that time being very few, were 
abundantly and easily supplied by hunting and fish- 
ing at proper seasons. They did not know the cod- 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 89 

fish, altliongh it was veiy abundant on their shores. 
They were frugal and sober. They had a kind of 
liquor made of the tops of the fir-tree, well boiled 
and put into casks with leaven or molasses, where it 
fermented for two or three days. After the fermen- 
tation was over, it was left to settle, and then it was 
good for use. They made and still make sugar from 
the inaple-trees, and it is one of their principal occu- 
pations and occasions of merrymaking durino- the 
spring. I 

Althongli at present their manner of dressing is 
pretty decent, yet formerly both men and women 
went nearly bare-footed and naked. The only 
garment which they wore was the mokkasin, and a 
kind of gown to the knees for the men, and some- 
what longer for the women. They did not wear any- 
thing on their head./ 'They have never been canni- 
bals, but they were docile and afifable in their man- 
ners. The modesty and decency observed in their 
families was great. Sisters and brothers behaved 
towards each other with propriety and respect. The 
brother abstained from any improper act* in the 
presence of the sister. A French traveller of more 
than a century and a half ago, to illustrate the great 
reserve and modesty existing in the Indian families, 
gives an instance, that in J^ova Scotia two Micmacs, 
brother and sister, went into the woods, and the bro- 
ther retired into the inner part of it for some natu- 
ral act. On his return to the sister, he had on his 
person some stain of excrement, of which he was 



* Viz : a crepitu ventris, eructatione, etc. 
5* 



90 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

unaware. When he was made acquainted with it 
by the sister, he felt so ashamed and confused, that 
he returned into the woods and hung himself. 

When a young man wanted to marry a girl, he 
went to her father and said, "I would willingly 
be admitted into your family." The lather would 
answer that he was to speak to her mother. If the 
young man was a good hunter, the courtship was 
soon over. Sometimes it cost him much to gain 
the mistress, for he was obliged to maintain the 
whole family during a certain period of time, and if 
the girl was very deserving, he had to purchase her 
with presents. The ceremony was thus ; the father 
would say to the girl " follow that young man, he is 
your husband," and all was over. They would go 
away together into the woods. After some days 
they would return and they would invite all the 
neighbors, who would feast together. Here the fa- 
ther commended his son-in-law, and recounted tlie 
exploits of his forefathers, and all the company ap- 
plauded his choice. After their conversion to the 
Catholic religion, the marriage was celebrated in the 
face of the church, if a priest was near; otherwise 
the marriage was renewed again, when they had an 
occasion to meet with the priest. 

When a woman was with child, she informed her 
husband, and he generally abstained from commerce 
with her till after the delivery. This was a common 
thing. When her menstruation began, she also in- 
formed her husband, and avoided approaching him. 
She retired into the woods accompanied by another 
woman to give birth to a child, and the midwife re- 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 91 

ceived for her trouble the knife which cut the navel 
string. No pains were suffered in childbirth. The 
new babe was immediately washed, either in sum- 
mer or winter. For the first nourishment it took 
the oil of some fish, or melted tallow of some beast. 
The infant was made to swallow it, and afterwards 
it took nothing but the mother's milk, till it was 
grown large enough to feed like other children. 
However Lescarbat relates, that the children were 
forced to swallow grease and oil as soon as they 
were taken from sucking the mother's breast. If 
the child was a boy, there was a great rejoicing; 
but they were rather displeased if it was a girl. 
When an Indian passing by went into the hut, and 
seeing the new-born infant, would take it up and 
make much of it, the parents would make a present 
to that person. Should the child wet the party that 
held him, they would make another present for 
reparation. If a woman while nursing became preg- 
nant, she would cause an abortion by taking a po- 
tion, saying that they could not nurse two children 
at the same time. The women were very fruitful. 
Few houses were without five or six children. Some 
couples had eighteen children, while still of age to 
have more. The women were treated hard, and 
like servants. They were seldom known to be false 
to their husbands, but if a woman was taken in 
adultery she was in danger of her life. Single wo- 
men, however, were not much noticed in criminal 
intercourse. Young people were chaste. They were 
equally entitled to the estate of the parents. Only 
merit raised a man to honor. There was no inheri- 



92 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

tance or birthright, and when one was once raised 
to honor, he was never removed, unless it were for 
some heinous offence. They never had nor have 
even at present, family names, hence the difficulty 
of tracing their families. The eldest son took the 
name of the father with the addition of the syllable 
sis, which means son, v. g. if the father was called 
JPiol (Peter), the first son was called Piolsis (son of 
Peter). The second son took another name. The 
third took the name of the second with the addi- 
tion of a syllable to the end of it, and so forth 
with the others. The first daughter took the 
name of the mother with the addition of the syllable 
sis in the same manner as with the sons. The 
second daughter took another name. The third 
took the name of the second w^ith the addition 
of a syllable and so forth. It is to be observed, that 
the particle sis afiixed to a name is nothing but a 
diminutive, viz. Saksis, little James, Ifaliesis, little 
Mary. But if this particle be affixed to a first born, 
then it means son or daughter. If there are two 
names, and this particle be found affixed to the se- 
cond name, it also means son. In this case this par- 
ticle is alwa^'s affixed to the name of the lather and 
not to that of the son, viz. Plansoa Mizelsis, Fran- 
cis, son of Michael ; Sabatis Etiensis, John Bap- 
tist, son of Stephen. The particle que, affixed to a 
name, means wife, and it is always affixed to the 
nanae of the husband and not to that of the wife ; 
thus, Malie Thomawisqiie, Mary the wife of Tho- 
nias (the syllable wi is for the sake of euphony). 
"When the particle sis is added to que, thus quests, it 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 93 

means daughter, viz. Sesil Etiennisquesis^ Cecilia 
the daughter of Stephen. If instead of sis^ they 
place the particle peun^ thus quepeun^ it means wid- 
ow, viz., Malie KHchi Nicolawisquepeiin^ Mary the 
widow of old Nicolas. 

The first time that the son killed any game, they 
had an entertainment for the whole family and neigh- 
boring savages. If they were into the woods, they 
w^aited for their return, and dried the meat to pre- 
serve it. The young hunter and his parents did not 
taste the game, hut they thought honorable to dis- 
tribute it to the company. They had a parti- 
cular ceremony for this occasion. They shouted 
and sang in honor of the young hunter. All 
that he killed w^hilst very young, was given 
away to others, to show his dexterity and courage. 
They made a feast also, when the child cut the first 
tooth. 

At their feasts, they always killed the best and 
most valuable hunting-dog, and they spared no- 
thing to make the entertainment good and agreeable. 
Yery often, however, the feast w^as mingled with 
weeping. Some old doting Indian woman in the 
midst of the rejoicing called to mind, that some 
twenty or thirty years before, she had a son killed. 
Then some of the guests would take compassion, and 
promise revenge, and never to give up, till he had 
killed some of that nation, to which the murderer 
belonged. He then would bring his head to her 
for her to eat. 

As soon as a father of family expired, he was 
taken from the wigwam, which was immediately 



94 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

set to fire together with all the contents, wliich prac- 
tice of burning the contents of the wigwam belong- 
ing to the deceased, exists yet to some extent amongst 
them. Then every person gave the corpse a present 
of the best things that they had, and which were used 
to ornament the grave inside and outside. They em- 
balmed the bodies of the dead, after extracting the 
bowels. Mourning consisted in painting themselves 
black and in uttering great lamentations. Their 
tombs resembled those of other Indian nations. We 
know that the tomb of a priest who died in the year 
1716 was covered with a kind of arbor, and instead 
of a tombstone, they put a heap of pebbles, placed 
in decent order. Whether this manner of covering 
the graves was used for all persons of great distinc- 
tion, or only for the priest, we cannot be certain. 
It might have been a case only for the interment of 
this priest, as we do not read that it had been prac- 
tised with others. 









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CHAPTER XIII. 




PRESENT CONDITION OF THE INDIANS. 

►AYIKG given a few historical notices of the 
ancient inhabitants of Acadia, I think pro- 
per to make a few remarks on the present 
native Americans of the State of Maine and British 
Provinces, which, with a part of Lower Canada, 
covers all the ground formerly called Acadia. In 
the State of Maine there are two small tribes of about 
Hve hundred individuals each, called the Penobscot 
and the Passamaquoddy tribes. The former live on 
several islands of the Penobscot River, the latter on 
the western shore of the Passamaquoddy Bay, and 
on the Schoodic Lakes. The Penobscot Indians have 
a small and rather good-looking village on an island 
called Indian Island, opposite to Old-Town. This 



96 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

village is composed of about thirty wooden houses, 
some of which are well and neatly built. It has a 
Catholic church, a townhall, and a school-house. 
This village is regularly built on the southern sliore 
of the island, with a square between the church, the 
townhall, school-house, and two rows of houses on 
the northern side. The graveyard is on a neck of 
land between two parts of the village. There are 
besides several houses scattered on tlie island. 

The church is good looking and well built, with a 
steeple and a bell to it, and is dedicated to St. 
Anne. It was built about thirty years ago by Rev. 
Yirgil Barber, who succeeded Rev. Mr. Eomagn^ 
in the charge of the Penobscot Mission, and occu- 
pies nearly the same site as the old church, built 
by Rev. John Louis Lefebvre Cheverus, afterwards 
Bishop of Boston, and Cardinal. In the inside, there 
is a gallery for singers, pews, and a good sanctuary. 
Over the altar there is an altar-piece representing 
the Assumption of the B. Y. Mary of nearly life- 
size, risino: from the tomb where she bad been de- 
posited ; it is a European painting and well exe- 
cuted. There is also an oil painting on canvas 
representing in life-size St. Francis of Assisi. It is 
an old European work, of an unknown but good 
artist. There is also a picture of St. Anne teaching 
the B. V. Mary to read, and a few other paintings 
of little consequence. But the Indians value very 
highly an oil painting representing the Crucifixion 
of our Saviour, made by an Indian, who had never 
had any instruction whatever. It is neither elegant 
nor well executed, jet it is a specimen of what an 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIE HISTORY. 97 

Indian can do without education, and without hav- 
ing studied the manner of preparing and mixing 
the colors in oiL Tlie interior of the church is orna- 
mented according to Indian taste. 

The priest's house is attached to the church, and 
it was repaired last year, as it was in a very dilapi- 
dated condition. At these places the Indians behave 
with great respect. An act of disrespect manifested 
by any visitor either in the church or at the priest's 
house is felt by them as a great insult, although it 
may not have been the intention of the stranger to 
give any such offence. If a Protestant enters their 
church, and comports himself properly, he is treated 
politely ; but if he behaves rudely, forgetting that he 
is in the house of God, omits uncovering the head, 
or laughs, talks, and so forth, either the sexton or 
some other Indian approaches him, and without any 
other ceremony removes the hat from his head with 
a blow, but without uttering a word. One evening 
while the members of the choir were practising at 
the priest's house, some strangers asked permission 
to be present, which was granted to them, but in 
entering the room they kept their hats on. The In- 
dians took offence at it, and refused to sing as long 
as the strangers were present. 

Their feelings are easily hurt, but generally they 
do not show it, although oftentimes they may appear 
rude, I give an instance of it. One afternoon I cross- 
ed the river, and in landing on the island, I found 
there two ladies, who w^ere very much excited 
against the Indians. They approached me and com- 
plained very bitterly of them, saying that they had 



98 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

crossed over the island to visit tliem, but that some 
squaws had treated them rudely by putting tliem out 
of the house. I apologized for them, and I offered 
to accompany them myself to visit any part of the 
village, that they desired to see, which was done. 
Afterwards I sent for those Indian women to inquire 
about this impolite manner of treating strangers, no 
matter to what denomination they may belong, but I 
found the statement of things to be quite different. 
The case had been the following. The ladies, without 
any ceremony, had entered the house of these Indians, 
while they were taking their meal. The manner in 
which they were helping themselves w'ithout using 
forks and knives, eating on the floor without chairs 
and table, eating from a common large w^ooden dish, 
without napkins and table-cloths ; the manner in 
which the food was prepared, their negligence in ob- 
serving those rules generally adopted by white peo- 
ple at table, did not suit the taste of the visitors. The 
ladies began to sneer, and then they lauglied, and 
continued to do so, till some squaws got up and put 
the ladies out of the door. I know from my own 
observations, that the Indians are very civil to visi- 
tors, especially when they do not forget that they 
are amongst Indians. 

They are all Catholics not only in the State of 
Maine, but also in all the British Provinces and 
Canada, and with few exceptions they are all good 
Christians, of strong faith, and stand firmly l>y their 
religion. The Catholics of Bangor in time of need 
have several times been assisted b}' the Indians of 
Oldtown. When the old St. Michael's Church at 



THE ABJSTAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 99 

Bangor,* was built, a set of bigoted fanatics of that 
city threatened to pull it down, and the day had been 
appointed to perform this disgraceful and profane ac- 
tion. At that time the Catholics were too few in 
that city, and they were not able, to protect the 
church, but the Indians came from Old-Town, armed 
with guns, clubs, and tomahawks, paraded on the 
front of the church in the street, and defied the 
rioters to touch it. This firmness of the Indians 
prevented the mob from gathering and doing any 
harm to the church, and saved Bangor from a dis- 
grace which would have tarnished for ever the an- 
nals of that city, which has never been stained 
by a disgraceful act of bigotry, but has always 
contributed to the fame and pride of the children 
of the Pine State. The Indians used to go from 
Old-Town to Bangor, to sing on Sunday at old St. 
Michael's, and the first leader ot the choir was an 
Indian, who took great care and interest in instruct- 
ing the singers. There are people yet living in 
Bangor, who have been instructed by Salomon 
Swassin^ the Indian above mentioned. He died 
four years ago and lies buried at Old-town. 

The reason why some of the Indians are not as 
good as the rest of the tribe, is owing to their mix- 
ing too much with the white people, and the gene- 
ral misfortune of the Indians in coming in contact 
with them is that they contract all tlie vices of the 
whites, without learning any of their virtues. This 

* This was the first Catholic church at Bangor, in Court street. It 
was sold last year, because it was in a dilapidated condition, and no 
more needed. A large new church has been built on York street. 



100 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

fact has always been observed and acknowledged by 
all persons familiar with the native Americans, al- 
though they are at a loss to account for it. Yet I 
do not wonder in reflecting, what class of white peo- 
ple the unfortunate Indians come in contact with. 
When the Indians first met with the Catholic 
missionaries, they divested themselves of many sav- 
age customs and vices, and learned many moral and 
Christian virtues. They improved their condition, 
and learned some civilization under the standard of 
the Cross. But these missionaries were virtuous peo- 
ple, and the proper persons to teach them good 
moral habits. Afterwards these Indians unluckilv 
came in contact with the worst class of society, and 
with people of the loosest habits, of no manners, 
without reli^-ion, or dis2:racino- the relio-ion which 
they professed. From these they have learned 
swearing, cui'sing,^'' stealing, drinking, licentiousness, 
disrespect and contempt for God, his ministers, and 
for religion, thereby their faith becomes weak. We 
s.ee the truth of it, when we reflect that the worst In- 
dians are those Avho go wandering about the country 
and mix with people of the above mentioned charac- 
ter. To this adding that they are neither scholars 
nor theologians, hence incapable of discerning be- 
tween an argument and a sophism. Several In- 
dians who pass for Protestant, and who themselves 
profess to be such, in reality are not Protestants, but 
Catholics, and sometimes very good Catholics also. 

* It is worth noticing that the Indian language has no word or 
expression to swear or curse. Wiien the Indians swear or curse tliey 
do it in English. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. lOi 

According to their notions they do not deem it to 
be a falsehood on some occasions not to tell the truth 
nor to deny the faith by saying they are Protes- 
tants, when asked by persons who have no light 
to question them. I give an instance of it. When 
they go around the country selling baskets, mats, 
and such-like articles, they enter the house of some 
bigoted man, who objects to purchase baskets from 
them on account of their religion ; then ensues the 
folio win o; dialoo^ue between them : 

Protestant, — "You are a Catholic, I do not want to 
buy baskets from you." 

Indian. — "Me no Catholic." 

Protestant, — " Yes, you are Catholic, you belong 
to the Old-Town Indians." 

Indian. — "Yes me Old-Town Indian, but me 
no Catholic, me once Catholic, but now Protes- 
tant." 

The bargain being concluded, on leaving the 
house or store, the Indians (who generally are two 
together in selling) laugh amongst themselves, and 
say " me cheat white folks, he think me Protestant, 
me no Protestant, me always Catholic, here my 
beads (they pull the beads or a medal and show it to 
each other)." The difficulty of learning the Indian 
language, makes it difficult for missionaries to in- 
struct them, hence they are not well grounded in 
their catechism, and we cannot reasonably expect 
from them, what we deem proper to require from 
the wdiite people, whose language is possessed fully 
bv their missionaries. 

The schools introduced amongst them by direction 



102 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

of the government are a complete failure, not only 
because a foreigner altogether ignorant of the native 
American languages teaches the Indians, but also 
because the teacher selected by the government be- 
ing generally an American Protestant does not en- 
joy their confidence, all Americans being looked 
upon by them with great distrust. On several occa- 
sions I have been obliged to go from house to 
house to take the children to school. There are 
children, who have frequented the school for years, 
who are not capable of spelling a word of two syl- 
lables. Yet there are Indians who know how to 
read well, and some are capable of writing. But 
the credit of it is due to the late Yirgil Barber, — 
a missionary who resided amongst them for ten 
years, and whose memory remains in benediction 
amongst them. He w^as formerly an Episcopal 
Minister, became a convert to the Catholic Church 
— was ordained Priest, and sent to Old-Town to 
take charge of the Penobscot Indians. He worked 
amongst them with great zeal and perseverance, 
taught their school, and his labors were crowned 
with success. Those Indians taught by him are 
all well instructed. Bev. John Bapst also deserves 
credit for having instructed them, but unfortunately 
he was not encouraged by the Government. The 
scanty annual salary of fifty dollars allowed by the 
Government from the Indian funds for the support 
of the Pastor was withdrawn from him, as also the 
payment for teaching school*. Against the wishes 

* I am informed by an honest agent of the Indians, that the salary 
of the schoohnaster and of the agent of the Indians should be taken. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 103 

of the most of the Tribe a Protestant teacher was 
forced upon the Indians. The division of parties 
stimulated by some malicious person to make prose- 
lytes of them, all concurred to check this effort in 
teaching them. 

not from the fund belonging to the Indians, but from the State, yet 
both schoolmaster and agent are paid with money belonging to the 
Indians. 




CHAPTEE XIY. 

DIVISION OF PARTIES AMONGST THE INDIANS OF MAINE 
INDIANS OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES. 

^T is not improper here to relate the origin of the 
division of parties amongst the Indians at Old- 
Town, which has been the cause of many cala- 
mities amongst them, of their decline and ruin, and 
it will continue to work their utter destruction, if an 
end shall not be put to their childish dissensions. 

The commencement of the division of the Penob- 
scot Tribe was caused by the scandalous conduct of 
their chief Atien Swassin. He was accused of 
drunkenness, adultery, and other crimes. He was 
called to an account in public council. There he was 
convinced of the truths of these accusations, he was 
removed from office, and another Indian was elected 



C/a 




THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 105 

to be the Sangman of the Tribe. The friends 
and relatives of the old Governor stood by him, so 
the tribe became divided, having two Governors and 
two sets of officers. Those who had elected a new 
Sachem called themselves New Party / the others 
who stood by the old Governor were called Old 
Party. This was the original cause of their division, 
althongh other things were added afterwards to dis- 
tingnish one party from the other. They raised two 
liberty poles near each other, and two flags in oppo- 
sition. 

This division naturally was the source of many 
animosities amongst them. Quarrels, dissensions, and 
fights became very common. Finally they sent mes- 
sengers to the Passamaquoddy, St. John, Caughna- 
waga, St. Francis, and other tribes of Canada and 
other British possessions, inviting them to come to 
Old-Town and assist them in a fight which was to take 
place on the island. AVith the exception of a few 
wicked Indians, who joined the Old Party, all the 
tribes not only refused to give them assistance in the 
fight, but advised them to desist from this evil de- 
sign and to make peace. Six confederate tribes of 
Canada held a council in Caughnawaga, called the 
Great-fire Council from the name of the tribes, and 
the disturbances at Old-Town were the subject of 
the discussion. The Greatfire Council censured 
the Old Party^ notwithstanding the fiery remon- 
strances of Governor Francis of the Passama- 
(^uoddy Indians at Pleasant Point, who denounced 
the New Party^ abused them, and made every eff'ort 
to bend the decision of the assembly in favor of the 



106 T'HE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

Old Party. The Great-fire Council sent two mes- 
sengers from Canada with a letter to the Penobscot 
tribe, complaining of the many scandals and evils 
perpetrated by them, of the disgrace which they had 
brought not only upon themselves and their children, 
but also \ipon th^ six confederate tribes of the Great- 
fire, They advised them to make peace amongst them- 
selves, to treat each other like brothers and to be 
docile to the voice of their Pastor, who was for 
peace and brotlierly love. 

The influence of the council and of their priest, 
Pev. John Ba^pst, induced them to agree to abolish 
both parties. Both governors consented to resign, 
both liberty poles were to be cut down, and they were 
to elect a new governor. All Indians for the sake of 
peace agreed to it, and a day was appointed for this 
general reconciliation. The Pt. Pev. John B. Fitzpa- 
trick, Bishop of Boston, whose jurisdiction at that time 
extended over the State of Maine, was invited to per- 
form this ceremony. The leaders of the Kew Party 
were honest and sincere, but the three leaders of the 
Old Party were not so. Piel Sakkis and the leaders 
of the Old Party had agreed to let the New Party 
first cut down their liberty pole, and then prevent any 
one touching theirs. The day appointed arrived. 
The Bishop of Boston and Eev. Mr. Bapst w^ere there 
on the island. They erected, a large cross near the 
church with the inscription, Pogo ut omnes unum 
sint^ 1 pray tlioi they all may he one^ St. John xvii. 
Indians w^ere appointed to demolish both liber- 
ty poles. They first cut dow^n the pole of the New 
Party, but when they were about striking with the 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 107 

axe into the pole of the Old Party, the three leaders 
rushed to the pole, and clasped it in their arms, 
crying that they would not let it Le cut down. 
The Indians appointed endeavored to demolish this 
pole, but they could not strike it without cutting 
the arms of the three Indians who held it. They 
w^ere ready to strike, hut this would have resulted 
in a bloody fight, and even in loss of life. Hence 
the Bishop and Pastor thought prudent to stop the 
Indians from going further. They denounced the 
duplicity of the leaders of the Old Party, who 
were excommunicated on the spot. The Bishop 
advised the 'New Party to keep quiet and peaceful 
and to have patience. He gave directions to the 
pastor to see what he could do with them, and if he 
thought proper, even to quit them, and he left in 
disgust.* 

On this the Old Party people became bold and in- 
solent. The New Party could not live in peace any 
longer on the island, and it was even unsafe for a well 
disposed and peaceful person to go to the Indian is- 
land. The priest himself could not live pleasantly 
amongst them. He was considered by the Old Party 
Indians to side with the New Party, hence he was 
treated by them with suspicion and distrust. The 
Rev. James Moore returning from his mission of the 
Passamaquoddy Indians, was accompanied by some 
canoes manned by Indians of that tribe, and while 

* One of the excommsnicated repeni«3, and having written a letter 
of repentance and apology to the Bishop, was absolved from the 
excommunication. Piel Sakkis followed his exaniple. The third is 
yet excommunicated. 



108 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

they were approaching the shores of the Penobscot 
Indians' island, some of the Old Party saw these canoes 
with strange Indians, and Father Moore with tliem, 
wlio was not aware of their recent troubles, and they 
thought that he was coming with those Indians to as- 
sist the 'New Party to fight the old one. They went 
to the shore and disputed their landing till they had 
signed a paper in favor of the Old Party. Pev. J. 
Moore, liowever, had already landed, saying to them 
that he would not trouble himself about their party 
quarrels. Things were rendered still worse by 
the instigations o'f some Sectarians who availed 
themselves of this opportunity to fill the ears of 
the poor Old Party Indians with malicious stories, 
saying that the priest was against them, preventing 
their progress, enlightenment, and education ; that 
they should have a Portestant teacher, who would be 
the only one fit to instruct them, and all such things 
which found believers amongst the ignorant Old- 
Party. AfiPairs having reached the highest pitch 
of disorder, the pastor advised the New Part}^, 
who were peaceful and well disposed, to quit Old- 
Town, and to go to Canada and to live amongst the 
Caughnawaga and St. Francis Indians, where they 
could be in peace and quiet, could practise their reli- 
gion, and their children could be better instructed. 
They followed this advice, and left for Canada. Eev. 
Mr. Bapst also quitted Old-Town, and retired to East- 
port, where he took charge of the Passamaquoddy 
tribe. 

Tlieir village now was deserted by half of the tribe, 
the church and priest's house were closed, and no 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 109 

more service was held on the isLand. This was a 
favorable opportunity for some of the Protestants, 
who desired to proselytize the Indians, and who had 
for several years made useless attempts for this object. 
Protestant ministers now went to the island several 
times to preach to them, but they could not persuade 
a single Indian to listen to them. They insinuated 
to them, that since the priest had left them and that 
since they could no longer perform the Catholic reli- 
gion, and in conscience being bound to attend a re- 
ligion, they might join the Protestant denomination, 
which was as good as the Catholic, if not better, be- 
cause they could not please the Great Spirit without 
professing a religion. He promised that their minis- 
ter would go on the island to preach to them, and 
the Indians were requested to open the church, so 
that the service might take place in their church. 
But they were very much disappointed. The Old 
Party Indians, bad as they were, would not listen to 
the preacher, they refused to open the church, and 
they told plainly, that they would rather set the church 
on fire, than to see it occupied by a Protestant minis- 
ter; ''even if we were to open it," they said, "he 
would have only the benches to preach at, as no In- 
dian would ever go to listen to him." These gen- 
tlemen, however, continued devising means to in- 
duce the Indians to abandon the Catholic religion. 
They fancied to have a better success, if they would 
send a preacher of a native-American race. They 
found an apostate belonging to the remains of the 
Iroquois tribes in the western part of the State of 
l^ew York. This they sent to Old-Town to preach to 



110 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

the Penobscot Indians, but it was another complete 
failure, because the Indians threatened him to throw 
him into the Penobscot river, if he would put again 
a foot on the island. 

The Indians remained without a priest for the space 
of three or four years, and although they had been 
occasionally visited, especially in case of sickness, by 
Pev. James Moore, Rev. J. Force and other mission- 
aries, yet no service had been held on the island. 
During this time not only none of them changed their 
religion, but also none of them was even seen putting 
a foot into any of the Protestant churches which are 
numerous in Old-Town. They went now and then 
across the river to attend Mass at the Canadian 
church of that place. 

It was about this time that I was sent to attend 
the Eastern Missions of the State of Maine, and espe- 
cially to visit the Indians. I did not desire to go di- 
rectly to them, but I was seeking for a favorable op- 
portunity to see them, which was presented to me 
while I was at Old-Town. One Sunday after Mass, 
while I was yet in the church of the Irish and Cana- 
dians, some Indian women requested me to go across 
to their island in order to baptize some children. At 
first I refused, saying that I would not pat a foot on 
an island, which was so much defiled by so many 
crimes perpetrated by the Indians, who were in re- 
bellion against God and His church, and who had 
been abandoned by the priest. They apologized, pro- 
testing that they had given no cause for it, and that 
they were sorry for what had taken place. After 
this explanation I consented to go on the afternoon. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. Ill 

When on the island, I walked directly to the vacant 
house of the priest. I examined every thing both at 
the house and church, and I found that nothing had 
been disturbed, but every thing was at its own place. 
After having baptized the children I prepared my- 
self to recross the river, but the Indians insisted that 
I should spend the night with them, which invitation 
I accepted after some objections. 

In the evening I gathered them at the church, and 
I gave them an exhortation, exposing to them their 
miserable condition, and in a particular manner I de- 
scribed their degeneration from their ancestors. I 
appealed strongly to their feelings, to bring them to 
a change of life. This exhortation had the desired 
effect. In the evening I was visited by several Indi- 
ans, who with a cool slyness — their great character- 
istic, questioned me, or rather I underwent a thorough 
examination about my politics in regard to the par- 
ties, about school matters, and such like, for which I 
was well prepared. During the night they held a 
council, and in the morning they sent me a delega- 
tion, which I received by an interpreter. The object 
of this delegation was, that they were anxious to 
change, and would if I consented to remain amongst 
them. This I could not promise, but told them, that 
if they were truly determined to live as good Catho- 
lics, and in peace with the rest of the Indians, I would 
consent to visit them regularly every month, until 
better provisions could be made in order to have a 
permanent residence amongst them. They agreed 
to it, and I commenced to visit them regularly every 
month. The other half tribe, in learning these arrange- 



112 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

ments between the priest and the Indians at Old-Town, 
then returned from Canada, yet there has not been 
since, any good feehng between the two parties, look- 
ing on each other with distrust. The year before 
last, however, they agreed to give up all parties, 
and to form only one body, yet the party feel- 
ing still remains. With the exception of a few, 
wdio work either in cultivating the land or in driving 
logs in the river, they are sluggish and have a natu- 
ral dislike for working, except hunting, where they 
endure hardships above description. This natural 
dislike for working arises from a false impression that 
work is a servile and mean thing, unworthy of 
the dignity of man, hence it was left to be performed 
by the women. Hunting and fighting are the only 
actions considered by them deserving the attention 
of man. The State Government had made efforts to 
encourage agriculture, but without success. The 
Government had directed the Indian Agent to plough 
at the expense of the Indian funds, one acre of 
land for each Indian, leaving to them the choice and 
labor of planting what they pleased, giving besides 
a bounty on what they would raise, excepting corn 
and cabbage ; yet the most of the Indians would let 
the ploughed land run into weeds rather than to 
trouble themselves to plant it. This Government 
order has been repealed in order to avoid wasting 
money without any profit. The squaws generally 
cultivate a kitchen garden near their houses, while 
the men smoke their pipes sitting on the threshold 
in idleness. Once I made them plant potatoes in the 
garden attached to the church, which they did be- 




TRAVELING ON SNOW SilOt;:i. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 113 

cause I was there present personally, but being 
obliged to be absent in the fall, the potatoes were 
allowed to freeze in the ground, and remain there 
during the winter in order to avoid the trouble of 
digging them up. They have over one hundred is- 
lands belonging to them, from Old-Town up to the 
river. The land is generall}^ very good, but many- 
islands are small for a proper cultivation. The diffi- 
culty of landing horses or oxen to cultivate them in- 
creases the natural objections which they have for 
agriculture, especially in the spring of the year, when 
it is even dangerous on account of the ice and logs, 
which float in the river. 

Their morals are generally good, though they are 
prone to intoxication, for which the whites are more 
to blame than the Indians. They do not swear or 
curse. 'No Indian language has words for it, but the 
Indians have learned from the lowest class of the 
white people, who are famous for profane language, 
swearing, cursing, abusing the holy name of God, and 
of our Saviour, how to curse and swear in English. 

They form a nation distinct from the United States, 
and as such they are recognised by the Government. 
Yet it can be said to be only a nominal distinction, 
as in reality they are bound by the laws of the 
United States, although they do not vote, nor pay 
taxes. At the meeting of the legislature of the State 
of Maine each tribe has a right to send an Indian 
to Augusta to represent them, but without voice 
either active or passive. They are allowed one 
day to make a speech, in which they expose the 
necessities of the tribe, their grievances, and also 

6* 



114 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

present petitions in the name of the tribe or of 
individuals. 

The tribe has a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
two Captains, four Counsellors, and three or four 
Deacons, or rather Sextons. The Governor is elect- 
ed for life, and although they for the last few years 
have elected him every second year, yet they do 
not generally like it ; lately they have chosen the 
eldest son of the old Governor Etien to be their 
Sangman for life. Tliese officers, however, are only 
nominal, as at present they have no power. The 
Deacons keep order in the Church, attend to the 
Yestry, town-hall, dancing, and wait on the Priest. 
They have in the hands of the State Government a 
capital amounting to lifty-three thousand dollars, — 
the price for a large tract of land sold many years 
ago, and for which they receive an annual interest 
of six per cent, through an agent. This capital 
was over seventy thousand dollars, but it has 
been reduced, because the agent very often drew 
not only the interest, but also a part of the 
principal. When the tribe became acquainted with 
this proceeding, they petitioned the Government not 
to allow any part of the principal to be drawn for the 
future, but to direct the agent to limit the annual ex- 
penses within the amount without touching the prin- 
cipal. Out of this money they make an appropria- 
tion for the sick and aged Indians, and bury the 
dead. The public buildings, that is, the Church, 
Priest's house, town-hall and school-house, are kept 
in I'epair from the common funds. Lately they appro- 
priate every year the sum of twenty dollars to be 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 115 

given to their Governor., The Pastor -was used to 
draw annually fifty dollars for his labors in attending 
them. This scanty sum, however, not even sufficient 
to cover his travelling expenses, has been for many 
years withdrawn from the Pastor; the Indians say 
by the bigotry of the Agent, the Agent says for the 
fault of the Government, and I believe the fault of 
both. Two years agoPev. M. Murphy, the Pastor of 
Eastport, who attended also the Indians at Pleasant- 
Point and Lewis Island, petitioned the Government 
for his fifty dollars to defray the expenses incurred 
by him in attending the Indians. The petition was 
referred to the Agent, who objected to it, on the 
ground that Pev. Mr. Murphy was not in need of if, 
because he had been observed giving money to the 
Indians. The fact was that Pev. Mr. Murphy 
had given some change to the Indians who had 
brought him in a canoe for four miles, across the 
lakes to Lew^is Island. This reason was sufficient for 
the Government to refuse the petition. Notwith- 
standing this, however the Pastor has always conti- 
nued to visit the Indians at his own exj)ense, and he 
has never failed to attend as usually without any 
compensation in this world, expecting an abundant 
one in the world to come. After deducting all these 
appropriations the balance of the interest is equally 
divided amongst them. 

The Agent who ahvays keeps a store gives them 
their dividend chiefly in provisions, but the Indians 
complain very much of it, because they are charged 
with the highest prices for the most common articles, 
which they could procure elsewhere with better sat- 



116 THE ABNAKIS; AND THEIR HISTORY. 

isfaction in price and quality. It is generally the 
case, that their dividend amounts to a trifle. I re- 
member one year, when their share was only one 
dollar a head. By old treaties the Agent, school- 
master, and the bounty for what they raise, were to 
be paid by Government, but I am informed by 
the Agents, that at present they are paid from 
the funds of the Indians. The Government will 
pay the interest of this money as long as the In- 
dians remain as a nation ; that is, if they de- 
crease in such a manner as not to form a nation 
they lose any claim both to interest and principal. 
Hence the extinction of the Indians is of interest to 
the Government, and it does not appear to be at a 
great distance. The State forbids under great pen- 
alty the marriage of an Indian with a person of dif- 
ferent color, and even at this time when this 
country by a terrible war gives freedom to the 
degraded descendants of Ham, cursed by ISToe to 
be the servants of their brethren ; the Government 
denies freedom to a noble race once the only masters 
and lords of this country, who, though stripped of 
their lands, have never been robbed of their liberty. 
The Indians are not allowed by the Government to 
marry whom they please, even in their own inde- 
pendent land, although they are recognised as a dis- 
tinct and free nation. As there exist here only 
two small tribes^ the rest living at a great distance 
front them^ they have heen ohliged for many years 
to intermarry continually amongst relations^ hence 
they are degenerating and disappearing very fast 
A number of them are feeble, consumptive, and di§- 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 117 

eased. I have myself represented this evil to the 
Governor of the State at Angnsta, but to no use, the 
law prohibiting the marriages of the Indians with 
persons of a different color, has not been repealed, 
and is in full vigor. 

Several years ago the self-sacrificing and zealous 
Pastor of the Passamaquoddy Indians at Pleasant 
Point, Rev. Ed. Demillier, was forced throngh 
motives of conscience to marry an Indian with a per- 
son of different color. The marriage was performed 
at Pleasant Point, an Indian independent territory, 
yet it was a great crime against the State. Pev. 
Edmond Demillier was prosecuted, and would have 
been taken to jail, if he had not been bailed by the 
Catholics of Eastport, he and his Indians being too 
poor to give security for his appearance to court ; but 
before his trial at the tribunal of this State, he was 
summoned to appear before the High Tribunal of the 
Author of Marriage, who had put no restriction on 
account of color; there he received the reward of 
his labors in behalf of the Indians. He died in the 
month of July of the year 1813, and was buried in 
their church at Pleasant Point, into the Sanctuary at 
the side of the Epistle. The Indians to this day 
pray on his grave, because he was their true friend 
on this earth, and thev should have reason to believe 
that he is also their patron in heaven. 

"What I have related of the Penobscot tribe, may 
also be generally said of the Passamaquoddy and 
Micmac Indians in reo:ard to their customs and man- 
ners. The Passamaquoddy tribe also split in two, 
but from a different cause, and the character of the 



118 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

two parties is dissimilar. In the Penobscot the new 
party, with some exceptions, is composed of the best 
and most honest of the Indians ; whereas in the Passa- 
maquoddy, the new party was formed of the worst 
of them, with the exception of a few, of which num- 
ber is Piel Mitchel, and the Governor Francis, who 
in every respect are honest, peaceful, and good Ca- 
tholic Indians. At present, however, the new party 
at Denis's Island are by far better than the old par- 
ty at Pleasant Point, with some exceptions. The 
cause of this change is, that the new party live on 
the Schoodic lakes at a distance from the white peo- 
ple, and they cannot obtain liquor, whereas the old 
party living at Pleasant Point can obtain abundance 
of it at Eastport and Perry. The divisions amongst 
them arose in the following manner. 

In 1836, two years after the decease of their Gov- 
ernor Francis Joseph Neptune, they elected as his 
successor his son John Francis, who is their pre- 
sent chief. Sabatis Keptune, with a strong party, 
has opposed him, expecting to be the Governor of 
the tribe. 

On the 4th of July of 1842 they tried to settle 
their disputes. Sabatis was accused of owing 
allegiance to Queen Victoria of England. He in re- 
ality was not considered to be honest. They tried 
to settle this trouble by a fight, in which Sabatis' 
party was worsted. They pulled down the American 
flag, cut down the liberty pole, and committed other 
outrages. 

In 1844, Newell Neptune, the Sachem next in 
rank, was elected to displace the Governor. Sixty- 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 119 

eio-ht votes were cast, and Kewell Neptune was elect- 
ed nnanimouslj. Yet the old party adhered to 
John Francis. Hence the tribe divided in two. 

The new party elected a Governor in the person of 
Francis, brother of the Governor bf the other party, 
and of the whole tribe. They elected also other offi- 
cers. In 1848, the Penobscot and St. John Indians 
settled the question by allowing two parties and two 

Governors. 

Both parties, however, could not dwell in peace at 
the same place. The new party commenced to ram- 
ble along both shores of the St. Croix river, but tired 
of this manner of living by roving without a fixed 
settlement thev returned to Pleasant Point, and 
agreed to petition the Government to build a village 
for the new party on the northern shore of the Schoo- 
dic lakes in the township belonging to that tribe. A 
few houses were built, a church, a house for the priest, 
and a small town-hall. Before moving to Denis Is- 
land they met together at Pleasant Point, promised 
a mutual friendship, apologized for past offences and 
forgave mutually what they had said and done 
against each other, at the same time agreeing that 
the delegate which was to be sent to Augusta every 
year, should be elected by turn once from Pleasant 
Point, and another year from Denis Island. Here 
each half tribe legally recognised the other half and 
their respective officers. Then they entered the 
church and confirmed all these agreements by taking 
an oath on the missal upon the altar and separa- 
ted in peace. All the Indians of the new party, how- 
ever, did not remain at Denis Island for a long time. 



120 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

Many of them soon became tired of the new settle- 
ment, and left and roved along both shores of the St. 
Croix river. Some of them established their residence 
at Calais, others at Robinston, and others returned 
to Pleasant Point. 

Their manners are the same as those of the Penob- 
scot Indians, except that they are somewhat more 
affable. They are poorer than those at Old-Town. 
The only possession they have is a few acres of sandy 
and barren beach at Pleasant Point, and a township 
of very good land at Lewis Island. They have leased 
for fifteen years this township for lumber, and the 
price of it is in the hands of the State, which pays to 
them an annual interest of six per cent, through 
an agent in the same manner as with the Penob- 
scot Indians, and it is appropriated to the same use 
as with them. 

Pleasant Point is a lovely and romantic spot on the 
right shore of the Passamaquoddy bay opposite to 
Deer Island, and eight miles north of Eastport, but 
it is poor and barren, being nothing else but sand. 
They have no wood, hence their great suffering during 
the winter season. They generally live by hunting 
seals around the Grand Manahan* island. They 
make oil and sell it at Eastport. They are all Ca- 
tholics, and they have strong faith, of which tliey 
have given evident proof in several occasions. They 
obliged Mr. Kellogg, a Protestant teacher and mis- 
sionary, to decamp, because he tried to pervert 
them from their religion. He had been sent to 
the Passamaquoddies as a schoolmaster by the Gov- 

* Manahan means sea island. 



THE ABNAEIS: AND THEIR HISTOHTi 121 

ernment of Maino, and as a missionary by the Mis- 
sionary Society in Massachnsetts. He did work 
enongli to enable liim to draw his pay from both 
He made no converts, and none of liis pupils could 
spell a word of two syllables. 

Their village at Pleasant Point is composed of a 
couple of dozen of houses, generally scattered alonjr 
the shore. The church with the priest's house at- 
tached to It is on the top and at the extremity of the 
pmnt, which is washed by the sea ; the water at high 
tide ,s only a few yards from the priest's house, 
which was built only a few years ago, the former 
dwelling, which had been occupied by the late Eev 
Mmund Demillier, being too old, has been demo- 
lished. There is a town-hall with the liberty pole a 
cannon to fire salutes, and a school-honse built in the 
year 1861 near the church, and on the spot where 
the old priest's house was. There is a graveyard 
in a very good location on the top of a hill The 
church, which is dedicated to St. Anne, has a belfry 
and bell in it, and it looks very neat from the outside 
and from the sea it has a romantic appearance, but 
the inside is simple and has nothing interesting, ex- 
cept that It is ornamented after the Indian taste. 
Ihis church was built from the proceeds of timber 
cut on the Indian township, and was completed in 
1835. The other village at Lewis Island is smaller 
but It looks well from the lakes. The church is very 
much like the one at Pleasant Point, but instead of 
the belfiy it has a spire with a bell, it is also dedi- 
cated to St. Anne, and it is likewise ornamented after 
the Indian taste. The priest's house and school 



122 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

are located near the cliurch. They have a liberty- 
pole by the side of the townhall, and a can- 
non to fire salutes. The village is located in their 
own township, which, besides being very good 
land, is stocked with fire wood. The Indians 
of this village deserve credit for having improved in 
their manners, which is due to their being at a dis- 
tance from the white people. Many of them culti- 
vate land, and some of them possess very good farms. 

What has been said of the Indians residing in the 
State of Maine, may also be applied to those of the 
British Provinces. The principal village of the Et- 
chemins of I^ew Brunswick is on the St. John's 
river near Frederickton. The village is neat, and it 
has a small church dedicated to St. Anne, and it is 
ornamented after the Indian taste. There is a resi- 
dence for the priest, who generally stays amongst 
them. The tribe is as large as those in the State of 
Maine. 

The Indians do not confine themselves to that vil- 
lage, but they rove along the St. John's river and 
around the Bay of Fundy. They have another small 
village on the north-west part of New Brunswick, 
about the Tobic river, from which they derive their 
name. There is also another village, near Burned 
Churchy which name was derived from an Indian 
Catholic church burned by the English over a cen- 
tury ago. It was rebuilt, but about fifty years ago 
w^as burned down again by an English captain. 
The Micmacs of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia 
are somewhat smaller than the restyl>\it they are 
stronger and in better condition than those of Maine. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 123 

This is owing to the fact that they are not obliged 
to intermarry amongst themselves. There is no pro- 
hibition for them to marry whom they like. Their 
principal settlements in New Brunswick are on the 
Mirainichi river, and on the Bay of Chaleurs. Tlie 
Micinacs deserve the credit of being the first amongst 
whom the cross was planted. The first act of reli- 
gious service held in North America, if we except the 
Icelandic settlements, was performed by the Catholics. 
Jacques Cartier, in the summer of 1534:, after visiting 
the Bay of Chaleurs, which name he gave to it on 
account of the excessive heat, went to Gaspe Bay. 
There he planted the cross amongst the Micmacs, 
and secured North ximerica to Christianity. He 
took two natives on board, Talguragny and Doma- 
gaya, sons of the chief, and carried them to France, 
and whom he fetched back on his voyage of 1535. 
In Nova Scotia their principal settlements are at 
India)x Island, Cornwallis, Esqidsoni, and Chapel 
Island', these two latter are on Cape Breton. Their 
churches, which are about like those of the Indians 
of Maine, are also dedicated to St. Anne. 

The number of Micmacs residing in Prince Ed- 
ward Island is two thousand and perhaps over. Their 
principal settlement is at Indian Eiver, where they 
have a church dedicated to St. Mary, where a priest 
resides. They have also another village at Lennox 
Island, and their church is dedicated to St. Anne. 
A number of them rove to the Magdalen islands, 
Newfoundland, to the island of Anticosti, and even 
as far as the shore of Labrador, but they have no 
permanent residence. They go thither to fish, or 



12^ THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

to hunt the seal, in the same manner as the 
Passamaquoddy Indians do in the Grand-manan for 
the same purpose. They stop there sometimes even 
for months, but they have no permanent residence. 




CHAPTER XY. 



CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS. 



jiEFORE closing the present subject on the 
^M Aborigines of Acadia, I desire to make a few 
remarks on the accusations continually 
brought against the Indians, of their being trea- 
cherous and inflexible to Christianity and civilization, 
and that the many efforts made both by the people 
and government to improve their condition have 
been frustrated. Their cruelty has been painted 
with the most striking colors. Facts and examples 
have been brought to prove their ferocious inhuman- 
ity and barbarity, so that the people are generally 
inclined to believe that the Indians in some manner 
can be classed with the brute animals. The history 
of the Aborigines of America has not yet been writ- 



126 THE ABKAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

ten. The person who will undertake this difficult 
task, must do justice to the kind dispositions of the 
red man. He has to meet many prejudices; he has 
to correct many wrong impressions existing in both 
Continents against the real character of the Indians. 
Their barbarism has been too much exaggerated. 
The facts and instances brought against them are only 
fragments detached from the whole narrative ; the 
antecedents are carefully suppressed, the causes are 
ignored, and the exceptions are given as general 
rules. It is true, that when they were first discovered 
by the gold-seeking Europeans, they were totally 
unacquainted with the fine arts and customs of the 
civilized Europe. The Indians, however, were liv- 
ing in a happy and simple independence. Their man- 
ners, although they did not suit the European taste, 
yet were appropriate to their own disposition and 
character, which formed what may be called an In- 
dian civilization, diflferent from the European. Their 
wants were few, and were only confined to the means 
of subsistence, which were abundantly furnished by 
their immense forests, lakes, and rivers. They had 
their national festivals, dances, and public amuse- 
ments. They were happy in this kind of golden age, 
and they by no means envied the European civiliza- 
tion, which, when tried to be introduced amongst 
them, not only proved a complete failure, but it has 
deteriorated their race, it has destroyed the greatest 
part of their nations, and it has rendered what was 
left a miserable and wretched generation, which per- 
haps will entirely disappear from the face of the 
American soil. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORT. 127 

The principal accusations brought against tbem 
are that they were cruel and treacherous, of which I 
will speak separately in the following chapter. 




^i^s 




■:;'H-»ii««*»*«=» ' 



CHAPTEE XYL 

TINDICATION OF THE CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS IM- 
PUTATION OF CRUELTY. 




I^XE of the charges brought against the Indians 
is, that they were doing war nation against 
nation, and in this manner exterminating 
themselves, and perpetrating brutal cruelties bj scalp- 
ing, torturing, mutilation, and other cruelties. The 
extermination of the Indians commenced when the 
Europeans began to occupy their land, or to civilize 
them. We do not know of any other extermination 
previous to that period. This extermination was 
made by the hands of the white people ; and by indi- 
rectly inciting Indians against Indians. But which 
of the civilized nations has not imbued the earth 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 129 

with the blood of men slain in war. Without going 
abroad, is not this very country, which claims to 
have made progress in civilization and Christianity, 
the theatre of an exterminating civil war by far sur- 
passing the exaggerated cruelties of the uncivilized 
and pagan Indians ? The number of lives lost in war 
in these four last years both in the l^orth and South 
can be put down to two millions ; yet the Indians 
are barbarians on account of a few hundred of them 
killed in war. The murders by cold blood commit- 
ted in 'New Orleans by a Butler, and by others at 
other places, either as hanging them to trees as spies 
or for retaliation, or shooting them as deserters, or 
sending them to the scaffold by wholesale, as with 
the Minnesota Indians. Exposing prisoners to 
the fire of the enemy, a barbarity never heard 
before in the history of man. The ornaments made 
in the South from Yankee bone surpass, at least 
match the murders of the Indians ; — the wanton 
burning of cities, villages, steamers, and trading ves- 
sels, the vandalic destruction of property by 
civilized white people, the entire desolation by arson, 
committed in the Shenandoah Yalley, by a Grant 
and Sheridan, in destroying every thing which 
would support man or animal, the brutalities of a 
Sherman in Atlanta, and its territory, far exceed 
the barbarities of the red man. The law of the 
country does not justify them more than the 
law and customs of the tribes excuse the Indians 
for their alleged cruelties. 

When the barbarities of the Indians in scalping 
their enemies and tormenting them are compared with 

1 



180 THE ABNAOS: AND THEIR HTSTORT. 

the brutalities of a ]S"ero, of a Diocletian, of a Maxi- 
milian, and other Emperors of the civilized world, 
philosophers will be puzzled to find which of them 
were barbarians- We know that the heads of the 
enemies were carried in triumph by the Indians, and 
that the scalps were kept as monuments of their 
pride, but what a striking contrast between the sav- 
age Pocohantas, and the delicate and finely educated 
daughter of Herodias in asking the head of St. John 
the Baptist to be brought to her in a dish, as a 
reward for her skilful dancing ! What a contrast 
between the savage Montezumas and the civilized 
De Soto ! The slaughter of the innocents to satisfy 
the pride of Herod may in vain be looked for 
amongst the barbarities of the Indians, which were 
confined to time of war, or with their enemies. 
The disgrace to humanity by Heenan and Bay- 
ers fighting before civilized and Christian spectators, 
finds no parallel in the history of the barbarian 
natives of this continent, but abundant examples 
will be found in the bull-fights of refined Spain, 
and in the blood-stained amphitheatres of Rome the 
great, and of Greece the learned. The cruelty used 
by the Indians in tormenting their enemies will van- 
ish when brought in comparison with the cruel- 
ties used by the English in India against the Sepoys, 
or with the tortures used in the middle ages to extort 
the truth from witnesses or criminals, and still more 
if we go backward to the primitive ages of Christi- 
anity and consider the inhumanities of civilized Em-^ 
perors against Christians without discrimination of 
Bex or age. We know of the pagan Etschimins and 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 181 

Micmacs that when an old man lost a son in time of 
war, they would kidnap a young man from that 
nation that had killed him, and give him to the old 
man for a substitute who was adopted and treated as 
a son, and as such recognized by the entire nation. 
We read in the annals of the civilised Minnesota, 
that that State offers a reward of two hundred dol- 
lars to every person who would kidnap or kill a Sioux 
warrior.* The Seminole Indians, by order of the 
government, were hunted with hounds from the 
marshes of the territory of Florida, because they did 
not choose to give up their native land. Civilized 
Englishmen, Spaniards and Americans have kidnap- 
ped cargoes of negroes from the shores of Africa and 
transported them to slavery into a foreign land ! 
The few remarks made on the imputation of cruelty 
attributed to the Indians must puzzle the accusers 
and make them blush, when a comparison is insti- 
tuted between the white and red man. They will find 
that the history of the white man presents far 
more numerous exatnples of barbarism and cruelties 
than that of the red man. Cannibalism has never 
been fonnd in America* The cruelty of the first 
conquerors of America, the Spaniards inflamed the 
gentle natives to a barbarous revenge ; and they 
were calumniated as cannibals, to afford a better pre- 
text for their destruction. Under this pretence the 
Caribs were extirpated. Yet, although the original 
inhabitants of the Caribee Islands emigrated from 
Korth America, yet they were mixed with many 
run-a-way Negroes. The black Caribs on the island 

* Freeman's Journal, No. 33, Nov. 21, 1863. 



182 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

of St. Vincent sprung from the intercourse of black 
slaves and Caribbean women. Cannibalism was 
found in some islands of Oceanica but they have 
nothing to do with the aborigines of America. "We 
know that cannibalism prevailed also among the sav- 
age Scythians and Sarmatians, as well as among the 
ancient inhabitants of Canaan. 



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CHAPTEE XYII. 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. CHARGE OF TREACHERY. 




>HEK the Europeans first appeared on the 
l'# coasts of America, their coh^r, language, 
ships, fire-arms, etc., naturally alarmed the 
natives, who conceived fear and suspicion of them, 
but it soon disappeared, and the Indians welcomed 
the white men. They were hospitable, and gave 
material assistance to the Europeans, and furnished 
them with food in venison and fish, for which they 
received trinkets. But the Europeans treated 
the natives unfairly, and deceived them in trading, 
and in other transactions. This proceeding re- 
vived their former suspicions, and their fears were 
soon realized. By degrees the natives lost all confi- 



134 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

dence, and they looked on the whites as encroaching 
on their hunting-grounds, and as their decided ene- 
mies. This has been the cause why the Indians ap- 
peared to be treacherous. It was not treachery, but 
want of confidence, that filled the hearts of the In- 
dians with dislike towards the whites. 

The Europeans soon began to kidnap the Indians 
and carry them into slavery.* 

Soon after the discovery of America, the Indians 
of Hispaniola were exported to Spain and made 
slaves. The Spaniards visited the coast of North 
America and kidnapped thousands of natives, w^iom 
they transported into slavery in Europe and in the 
West Indies. Christopher Columbus himself kidnap- 
ped five hundred native Americans, and sent them 
to Spain, that they might be publicly sold at Seville. 
The practice of selling ISTorth American Indians into 
bondasre continued two centuries. In 1518 Las Ca- 
sas seeing the Indians vanishing away, because they 
could not endure the cruelty of the Spaniards, sug- 
gested that the negroes were better adapted for sla- 
very. We know that the Popes were obliged to 
issue bulls for the protection of the Indians, that 
they should not be treated as brutes, nor carried into 
slavery. At late periods there were Indian slaves 
in Massachusetts. Even nowadays the white peo- 
ple in California kidnap Indian children, and sell 
them for slaves. There have been sold lately one hun- 
dred Indian children in Lake County, California. 

The Colonies planted by the French in Acadia 

* Bancroft. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 135 

were first supported by the Indiaus, wlio were fur- 
nishing them with means of subsistence. But they 
became disgusted with the French ; they refused to 
give them game, and the Colonies were nearly ex- 
tinguished. They charged the French of destroying 
them by poison. This is certain, that after the arri- 
val of the French the number of the Indians in Aca- 
dia soon diminished, and entire villages of Micmacs 
were left desolate. Several cases of poison by arse- 
nic are certain. The French had distributed arsenic 
to the Micmacs to kill their enemies, but not know- 
ing how to use it, they had done harm to themselves. 
The French had also given to them bad and infected 
merchandise, which had caused very destructive dis- 
eases amongst the Indians, who with some reason 
charged the French of poisoning them. The Penob- 
scot Indians received Capt. "Weymouth very kindly ; 
they invited him to visit their village, and their j^rin- 
cipal chiefs, but they were ill treated by him, and 
he even kidnapped several of them. 

But the principal cause which generated in the 
heart of the Indians a want of confidence and a dis- 
trust towards the white men, was the deception used 
by the whites to deprive the natives of their land. 
J^early all the Indians in the United States have 
been deprived of their land by deception. The Pas- 
samaquoddy Indians for a trifling consideration gave 
the privilege to the English to use for one or two 
years their village, where St. Andrew is at present 
on the Passamaquoddy Ba}^, but they were never 
able to have it back again. The English Govern- 
ment, gave them the Indian Island on the same bay, 



136 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY, 

but they were soon expelled, and were obliged to 
rove for a number of years, till tliey got from the 
Government some acres of land at Pleasant Point in 
order to have a permanent home. The same is the 
case with the Penobscot tribe, who have lost all 
their land, with the exception of some islands on the 
Penobscot Piver. 

It is true that treaties were made with the Indians, 
and authentic copies can be produced of their selling 
or giving up land, but the Indians did not understand 
the nature of these contracts, nor could they believe 
that a parcel of paper could bind them to give up 
their land for ever. Many of them thought that the 
land was only leased, and they expected it back. 
Many of these contracts were extorted from them 
when they were in a state of intoxication, or rather 
the agents made them drunk, and so they have in 
presence of witnesses signed contracts and deeds, of 
which they knew nothing at all. In Maine and Massa- 
chusetts, and perhaps in other States, there is record 
of dishonest and ignorant interpreters at the confer- 
ences, or tallcs as they call them, of incompetent and 
ill-disposed commissioners, who stated tlieir terms in 
vague language, or disposed of the business with 
which they were entrusted in hot haste, and before 
the chiefs could understand what was required of 
them ; and so again, in one negotiation, it is certain 
that a chief who went to a place designated was for- 
cibly carried to Boston, there to submit, while yet a 
prisoner, to such terms as should be dictated to him 
by the Government.^ In many cases it was not the 

* Christian Examiner. 




vf"^'' 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 137 

nation, but a few bribed chiefs that gave up the land, 
the tribes never ratifying the contracts. Often the 
contracts were not vokintary, but forced by fear, as 
made after that the land had been taken away. I re- 
late the very words of the Indians as reported by Rev. 
Mr. Heckwelder.* " When we treat with the white 
people, we have not the choice of the spot, where 
the messeno^ers are to meet. When we are called 
upon to conclude a peace (and what a peace !) the 
meeting no longer takes place in shady groves, where 
the innocent little birds with their cheerful songs 
seemed as if they wished to soothe and enliven our 
minds, tune them to amity and concord, and take a 
part in the good work, for which we are met. Nei- 
ther is at the sacred Council house, that we are in- 
vited to assemble. No I It is at some of those hor- 
rid places, surrounded with mounds and ditches, 
where the most destructive of all weapons, where 
great guns are gaping at us with wide mouths, as if 
ready to devour ns, and thus we are prevented from 
speaking our minds freely as brothers ought to do ?" 
In the sixth volume of the Collections of the Maine 
Historical Society, Mr. Frederick Kidder of Boston 
gives two treaties signed by the North-Eastern Indi- 
ans, where the signatures are seen from the Abnakis 
and Mareschite Indians, one made in 1713, and the 
other in 1717. But in perusing these treaties, they look 
more like terms imposed to them by a stronger na- 
tion, in whose mercy the Indians are left, than a free 
stipulation between two parties. There land is given 

* Pennsylvania Philosophical Transactions. 



138 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

to the English, but without compensation, land is 
left to the English, which they already possessed, 
which land belonged to the Indians, as it is observed 
by the same Mr. Kidder in the same article. After 
the vandalic destruction of the Abnakis village in 
Norridgewock on the Kennebec River by the Bos- 
tonians and Mohawks headed by Col. Westbrook, 
wdiere the venerable old missionary Father Sebastian 
Rale fell a martyr together with a number of 
Indians, the survivors' retired to Canada, and de- 
manded redress through Mr. \^audreuil, Governor 
of Canada. Tiiey demanded from the Governor 
of Massachusetts that the English should restore 
their lands and rebuild their church, which they 
had destroyed at ISTorridgewock. There the In- 
dians denied that they had ever sold any land to the 
English, and when the latter claimed that much of 
it was theirs by a possession of more than eighty 
years, and that this possession gave them a title, the 
Indians replied — We were in possession before you, 
for we have held it from time immemorial. They 
had been induced to grant to the white people only 
that territory where their settlements were, but under 
condition that they should not encroach any further 
on their land. In 1752 Capt. Phineas Stevens pro- 
ceeded to Canada, as a delegate from the Governor 
of Massachusetts, to confer with the Abnakis, and to 
redeem some prisoners they had in their possession. 
At a conference held with them in the presence of 
the Governor of Canada, Atewaneto, the chief speak- 
er, made an eloquent reply, in which he charged the 
English with trespassing on their lands: he said, 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 139 

*' We acknowledge no other land of yours than yonr 
settlements, wherever you have built, and we will 
not consent under any pretext that you pass beyond 
them. The lands we possess have been given us by 
the Great Master of Life, we acknow^ledge to hold it 
only from him." 

A writer in No. XLIX. of the Christian Ex- 
aminer, makes the following remarks. ^^ Eev. Elijah 
Kellog, a Protestant, was employed by the Society of 
the Propagation of the Gospel for several years. 
His labors were eonfined exclusively to the Passa- 
maquoddy. Ko man could have been more devoted 
and assiduous, but he was not successful. The In- 
dians W'Cre fixed to the Catholic faith the 

first trial of discipline dissolved (the school) and 
scattered the Indian boys and girls to the four winds." 
In the same article he continues : "The experiment 
of attempting to reform their vagrant habits in mat- 
ters of labor and its rewards has been tried, has sig- 
nally failed^ and need not be repeated. Yet the 
Government of Maine can make, and, we venture to 
say, ought to make suitable and even liberal provi- 
sion for the permanent residence among them of a 
Catholic clergyman, who is willing to give his life 
to their service. Wedded fast to the faith and cere- 
' monies of the Koman Church, they will heed the in- 
structions and rebukes of no Protestants." 

These Passamaquoddy Indians, together with the 
Etchemins of St. John's Kiver and the Micmacs, sent 
a solemn deputation to the Rt. Rev. John Carroll, 
first Bishop of Baltimore, to ask a missionary. This 
deputation was accompanied by a letter signed by 



140 THE ABITAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY, 

the chiefs of the Passamaqnoddy, St. John's and 
Micmac Indians, and they had the crucifix of Father 
Kale, which they presented to the Bishop. The 
Bishop kissed the crucifix, and returned it to 
them, accompanied by the following letter, the ori- 
ginal of which was given to me as a present by the 
Passamaqnoddy Indians at Pleasant Point. It 
begins thus : " Brethren and beloved children in 
Jesus Christ, I received with the greatest pleasure 
the testimony," &c. 

One of the reasons why the noble and meek Poger 
Williams was persecuted and driven into the wilder- 
ness, was, because he attacked and denounced the 
charter of the Colony as invalid, because the King 
of England had given to the white people the land 
of other owners, the Indians, without their consent. 
The learned Williamson, in the History of Maine, 
mentions this point. He records treaties with the 
Indians, but no mention is made there of any 
compensation giv^en. In 1618 he does mention 
some land sold by the Indians on the Kenne- 
bec, but no authority is given.* He reports there 
that in the peace of 1678 the English were to pay 
for the land to the Indians, because the land belonged 
to them, but we do not know whether the land had 
been taken by force or sold, nor we know whether 
any compensation was given. He relates the com- 
plaints of the Indians, from which we may infer that 
the land had been taken without their consent. He 
relates plainly that a treaty was concluded with the 
English for fear, and no exchange was received for 

* Williamson, Hist, of Maine, y. i. page 365 (n) 161, page 338. 



\ 
THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 141 

land. Father Kale in a letter sajs, iliat the Kenna- 
bec land belonged to the Indians. I will relate the 
very words of the Indians of several nations on this 
subject as reported bj Heckwelder, in the Penns}^- 
vania Philosophical Transactions, in the following 
words. It was about the Yirginians, whom the In- 
dians call Long Knives.^ " It was we (sa}^ the Len- 
apis, Mohegans, and other kindred tribes) who so 
kindly received them on their first arrival into onr 
country. We took them by the hand, and bid them 
welcome to sit down by our side, and live with us as 
brothers, but how did they requite our kindness? 
They at first asked only for a little land on which to 
raise bread for themselves and their families, and 
pastures for their cattle, which we freely gave them. 
They soon wanted more, which we also gave them. 
They saw the game in the woods, which the Great 
Spirit had given us for our subsistence, and they 
wanted that too. Tliey penetrated into the woods 
in quest of game, they discovered spots of land 
which pleased them ; that land they also wanted, and 
because we were loth to part with it, as we saw 
they had already more than they had need of, they 
took it from us by force, and drove us to a great 
distance from our ancient homes." 

The New Yorkers treated them in the same man- 
ner. " By and by the Dutchman arrived at Mana- 
Jiaclitanienh.\ The great man wanted only a little 
land, on which to raise greens for his soup, just as 
much as a bullock's hide v/ould cover. Here we 

* Pennsylvania Philosophical Transactions, v. 1. 
f Manhattan Island. 



142 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

first might have observed then* deceitful spirit. The 
bullock's hide was cut up into little strips, and did 
not cover indeed, but encircled a very large piece of 
land, which we foolishly granted to them. They 
were to raise greens on it, instead of which they 
planted great guns ; afterwards tliey built strong 
houses, made themselves masters of the island, then 
went up the river to our enemies, the Mengwe, made 
a league with them, persuaded us by their wicked 
arts to lay down our arms, and at last drove us entire- 
ly out of the country." 

The treatment of the Peunsylvanians towards the 
Indians is expressed in the following terms. " To 
many of those, Pennsylvania was a last delightful 
asylum. . . . On whichever side of the Lenapewi- 
hittuch^ the white people landed, they were wel- 
comed as brothers by our ancestors . . . who gave 
them lands to live on ... . and even hunted for 
them, and furnished them with meat out of the 
woods. Such was our conduct to the white men,f 
who inhabited this Country until our elder brother 
the Great and good Miquon:j; came and brought us 
words of peace and good w411. We believed his 
words, and his memory is still held in veneration 

among us Our brother Miquon died, and 

those of his good counsellors, who were of his mind. 
The strangers, who had taken their places, no longer 
spoke to us of sitting down by the side of each other 
as brothers of one family. They forgot that friend- 

* Hittuck river, hence Lenapewihittuck, the river of the Lenapes, 
so they called the Delaware river. 
f Dutch and Sweden. 
X William Penn. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 143 

ship, which their great man had established with us, 
and wliich was to last to the end of time. They now 
only strove to get all our land from us by fraud and 
force, and when we attempted to remind them of whi.t 
our good brother had said, they became angry and 
sent word to our enemies, the Mengwe, to meet them 
at a Great Council, which they were to hold with us 
at Loehauwdke^'^ where they should take us by the 
hair of our heads and shake us well. ... " This 
affair happened in reality in Pensylvania. The 
Dutchmen, and afterwards the Englishmen made the 
Iroquois, called Mengwe by the Delaware, and other 
Pennsylvania Indians to assist them in exterminating 
the Lenni-Lenapis." The Mengwe persuaded the 
Lenapi to become women, that is, to lay down their 
arms and to occupy themselves in agriculture, and 
thus disarmed they could be slaughtered. 

The manner in which the Lenni-Lenapis were 
treated by the whites is mentioned by them in these 
touching words.f '' We and our kindred tribes lived 
in peace and harmony with each other, before the 
white people came in this Country. Our Council 
housej extended far to the E'orth, and far to the 
South. In the middle of it we would meet from all 
parts to smoke the pipe of peace together. When 
the white men arrived in the South, we received 
them as friends. We did the same when they 
arrived in the East. It was we, it was our fore- 
fathers, who made them welcome, and let them sit 

* Eaton in Pennsylvania. 

f Heckwelder, Hist : narrat. v.l 

% It means Connection, District. 



144 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

down by our side. The land tliey settled on was 
ours. We knew not but the Great Spirit had sent 
them to us for some good purpose, and therefore we 
thought they must be a good people. We were mis- 
taken ; for no sooner had they obtained footing on 
our land, than they began to pull our Council-house 
down, first at one end and then at the other, and at 
last meeting each other at the centre, where the 
Council-fire was yet burning bright, they put it out. 
They extinguished our Council-fire with our own 
blood, and with the blood of those,* who w^ith us 
had received them, who had welcomed them in our 
land. Their blood ran in streams into our fire and 
extinguished it so entirely, that not one spark was 
left whereby to kindle a new fire.f We were com- 
pelled to withdraw ourselves beyond the Great 
Swamp,:]: and to fly to our good Uncle the Delamat- 
tenos^% who kindly gave us a tract of land to live on. 
How long we shall be permitted to remain in this 
asylum, the Great Spirit only knows. The whites 
will not rest contented until they shall have destroy- 
ed the last of us and made us disappear entirely 
from the face of the earth." About the Kew Eng- 
landers the Indians speak in the following manner, 
"When the Yangeese arrived at Machtitschwanne 
they looked about everywhere for good spots of land, 

* They allude to the murder of the Conestogo Indians, who, though 
of another Tribe, yet had joined them in welcoming the white people 
to their shores. This lamentable event took place in reality. See 
Philosophical Translations, v. i. 

f This fact happened in 1762, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

X The glades on the Alleghany mountains. 

§ The Hurons, so called by them. 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 145 

and when they found one, they immediately and with- 
out ceremony possessed themselves of it. We were 
astonished, but still we let them go on. . . . But 
when at last they came to our favorite spots, those 
which lay most convenient to our fisheries, then 
bloody wars ensued. . . . these white men encroach- 
ed so fast upon us, that we saw at once we should 
lose all if we did not resist them." Gookin, in his 
history of the Christian Indians, has exposed their 
sufferings, and the ill treatments received from the 
whites. This is the reason why they have resisted 
the efforts of Protestant Missionaries to christianize 
them ; it was because the preachings of these Mis- 
sionaries were counteracted by the bad example, 
injustices, and ill treatment from the hands of the 
white Christians, and while with one hand they were 
giving to tliem the Bible, with the other hand they 
were robbing them of their land. Gookin says 
that the English soldiers made nothing- of the 
Indians. Governor Hutchinson says that this more 
than any other thing occasioned the defeat of the 
endeavours for christianizing the Indians; .... it 
sank their spirits,^ led them to intemperance, and 
extirpated the whole race. For this reason when 
the zealous Eev. John Eliot tried to engage Philip's 
attention to religion, the Sachem taking hold of a 
button on the good man's coat, said that he cared no 
more for his religion than for that button.* When 
Mr. Mayhew requested of ISTinigret, chief of the 
]S"arragansets, liberty to preach to his people, the 



* Mather's Magnalia. 



146 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

Chief bid him go and make the English good first: 
and in effect added, that so long as the English could 
not agree among themselves what Keligion was, it ill 
became them to teach others.^ The vandalic destruc- 
tion of the last Abnaki village in Maine is pointed 
out to the stranger by that celebrated monument 
standing on the shores of the Kennebec river. 
That land belonged to the Indians, who have never 
received any compensation for it, notwithstanding 
the repeated applications made by the Indians, and 
by the governor of Canada. 

* Life of Ninigret in Drake's Book of the Indians. 



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CHAPTER xyni. 

PRESENT TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS EAST AND WEST 
OF THE MISSISSIPPI. HANGING OF THIRTY-NINE MINNE- 
SOTA INDIANS. 

>T is an impression prevailing amongst some per- 
sons that the Indians at present time receive 
better treatment, encouragement, and assistance 
both from the Government and from the people. 
But, unfortunately it is not so. They are treated as 
badly as ever. The few tribes left east of the Mis- 
sissippi have been moved away forcibly from their 
hunting-grounds and fishing shores to lands ap- 
propriated by the Government west of that river, 
and when that land too became coveted by the peo- 
ple, they were removed still further west either will- 



148 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

ingly or not willingly. The Seminoles of Florida 
never consented to quit their favorite soil of the At- 
lantic shore. They felt satisfied to occupy the sick- 
ly swamps and bogs of the Florida territory. Yet 
the white man did not wish to have the red face too 
near to him. They were forced to sign a treaty to 
move west, yet their attachment to the native soil 
could not persuade them to fulfil an extorted treaty. 
Many of them resisted by force. Many years of 
harassing war by the Government could not expel 
them. Money was lavished, and many precious lives 
were sacrificed. 

It became the subject of speculations and politics. 
Finally the Seminoles were brutally hunted by 
hounds and mastiffs — an example never known to 
have been practiced even by cannibals, yet it has 
been used by a Christian and civilized nation, on the 
very native land of the Indians. 

The Cherokees embraced the European civilization 
to a great extent. They applied themselves to the 
cultivation of the land, and to the mechanical arts ; 
they had schools of their own, they had even started 
newspapers in their own language, yet notwithstand- 
ing this they were obliged to quit their native home 
and move to a far distant country. 

This ill treatment is not confined only to the na- 
tives east of the Mississippi, but it is extended to 
those living on the other side of it. The recent mas- 
sacre of the Minnesota settlers by the Sioux Indians? 
and the hanging of the Indians by wholesale by the 
hands of a beneficent Government, has put before the 
eyes of the people many curious and astonishing facts. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 149 

When the white people commenced to form settle- 
ments near the Indian reservations, or into the very 
land belonging to them, they looked on the Indians 
as a nuisance and intruders, and overlooked to re- 
flect, that the natives were the masters of the land. 
Agents were appointed by the Government, who di- 
rectly and indirectly assisted the white people to 
get rid of the Indians. The Indians of Minnesota 
were driven by despair to commit the massacre re- 
ferred to.* Several years ago they were forced to 
sell to the Government a large tract of land. They 
were swindled, and never received any compensation. 
The agent gave them liquor and other articles calcu- 
lated to demoralize them. The Chiefs and other 
wise Indians frequently though in vain remonstrated 
with Government. Considering that they had 
been deceived, ruined in their morals, and find- 
ing no redress, they looked on the extorted sale of 
land as null, and tried to expel by force the whites 
who had intruded on their land. Bishop Whip- 
ple shows very plainly, that this wretched peo- 
ple have been the victims of theft, murder, violence 
to women, where death had followed at the hands of 
white and red men. The Government had fostered 
idleness by encouraging a savage life especially by 
sale of intoxicating liquors. They have repeatedly 
remonstrated against these evils. The Indians have 
several times demolished the stores of the agents con- 
taining liquor, scalping knives, beads, etc. They des- 
troyed these articles for their own protection. Yet 

* See New York Tablet, Boston Journal, and other papers of that 
date. Also Bishop Whipple's letter on that subject. 



150 THE ABNAKIS : AKD THEIR HISTORY. 

the Government never moved a step to do them jus- 
tice. Bat when driven by madness and despair they 
expelled by force the intruding whites, and killed 
some of them, then the Government sent an army^ 
not to redress the wrongs, which for several years 
had been perpetrated by the whites against the Indi- 
ans, but to punish by a wholesale slaughter the un- 
fortunate Indians who had been compelled to perpe- 
tuate these barbarous acts, which, however, we do not 
mean to approve. A one-sided judgment found guil- 
ty two hundred Indians. The Government wnshed 
to execute only those who had been guilty of violat- 
ing white women. A number of red women had 
been violated by white men, but being there differ- 
ence in the color, no notice had been taken of it. 
Unluckily for the Indians only two of them were 
found guilty of having violated white women ; and 
the sacrifice of two could not satisfy the Governmentj 
but a wholesale slaughter was ordered by hanging 
thirty-nine Indians. 

This manner of acting of the Government and peo^ 
pie towards the native Americans, is not limited only 
to those living east and west of the great Mississip- 
pi River, but it extends far west beyond the Rocky 
Mountains, as far as to the shore of the Pacific Ocean. 




CHAPTEE XIX. 



tKEATI^IENT OF THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS. RESERVA- 
TION SYSTEM ADOPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT LIKE 
THAT OF THE CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN AMERICA. 




HEN the State of California was admitted 
^i into the Union, the number of the Indians 
livinoj within its borders was estimated to 
one hundred thousand. Now they scarcely reach 
thirty thousand. This great reduction is due to the 
efforts of the white people to civilize them. The 
manner of civilization was the following.* In the 
■Vv'ine-growing districts they were employed to culti- 

* "We have received permission to make quotations froDi Harper's 
Magazine in this last article. 



152 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

vate the land. Tliej were usnallj paid in native 
brandy every Saturday night, put in jail next morn- 
ing for getting drunk, and bailed out on Monday to 
work out the fine imposed upon them by the legal 
authorities. This system prevails yet in Los Angeles 
and Pueblo. — In the northern portions of the State 
the settlery engage at a fixed rate of wages to culti- 
vate the ground, and during the season of labor 
they feed them on beans and give them a blanket or 
a shirt each. The harvest being secured, the account 
was considered square, and the Indians were driven 
off to forage in the woods for themselves and fami- 
lies, during the winter. Many of them, of course, 
perished of starvation and exposure, and others were 
killed on the general principle that they must have 
subsisted by stealing cattle. 

The Indians inhabiting the Coast Range, the val- 
leys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and the 
western slope of the Sierra Nevada, became trouble- 
some at the period of the discovery of the gold mines. 
It was found convenient to take possession of their 
country without recompense, rob them of their wives 
and children, kill them in every cowardly and bar- 
barous manner ; and when it was not practicable, to 
drive them as far as possible out of the way. These 
unfortunate creatures could not understand why 
they should be murdered, robbed, and hunted down 
in this way, without any other pretence of provoca- 
tion than the color of their skin, and the habits of 
life to which they had always been accustomed. Ac- 
tuated by motives of resentment, a few of them occa- 
sionally rallied, preferring rather to die than submit 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 153 

to these wrongs. White men were killed from time 
to time ; cattle were driven off, horses were stolen, 
and various other offences were committed. The 
Federal Government, as in the case of the Minnesota 
Indians and others, sent troops to aid the settlers in 
slaughtering the Indians. Congress took the mat- 
ter in hand. A large sum of money was appropri- 
ated to purchase cattle and agricultural implements 
for the relief of the Indians. Agents and sub-agents 
were appointed with rich salaries, and treaties were 
made, in which the various tribes were promised 
many valuable presents, which they never got. Many 
thousands of cattle w^ere purchased, but instead of 
being given to the Indians, they were driven, at least 
for the greater part, to the mines, and sold at good 
prices to the gold diggers. The Indians so benelited 
continued to starve and continued to be abused and 
driven away to perish by starvation and exposure, 
notwithstanding the money of the Government. 
Many Indian chiefs protested, that if the white peo- 
ple would only let them alone, and give them the 
least possible chance to make a living, they would 
esteem it a much greater favor than any relief they 
had experienced from Congress. 

In 1853 Congress enacted laws for the establish- 
ment of a reservation system in California, like the 
one used by Catholic Missionaries in Mexico, Cali- 
fornia, Brazil, and Paraguay, etc., which had worked 
so admirably. It was known that the Catholic Mis- 
sions in California had been built chiefly by Indian 
labor. Before the encroachment of the Americans 
on California, Catholic Missionaries had fully demon- 

8 



154 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

strated the capacity of the Indians for the acquisition 
of civilized manners. By this system extensive tracts 
of land had been cultivated, numerous vineyards had 
been planted, many hostile tribes had been subdued, 
and without any aid of the Government, beyond the 
grants of land for Missionary purposes, the Indians 
grew wealthy, possessed immense herds of cattle, 
sold agricultural products to the rancheros, and kept 
up an active commerce in hides and tallow with the 
United States. 

If all this was done by Spanish priests without 
arms or assistance, in a savage country, when the In- 
dians were more numerous and powerful, surely they 
thought, that it could be done in a comparatively 
civilized country by intelligent Americans, with all 
the light of experience, with the co-operation of a 
beneficent government, and the zeal of numberless 
Bible and Tract Societies. 

Large appropriations were made by Congress to 
carry it into effect. Tracts of land of twenty-five 
thousand acres were ordered to be set apart for the 
use of the Indians; officers were appointed to super- 
vise the affairs of the service ; clothing, cattle, seeds 
and agricultural implements were purchased, and va- 
rious tribes were invited to settle. The first reser- 
vation was established at Tejon in the southern part 
of the State, and the Indians were feasted with 
cattle. It cost about $250,000 only to start it. Simi- 
lar reservations were made afterwards also in the 
Sacramento valley at a place called INome Lackee, 
south of Cape Mendocino ; and one on the Klamath, 
below Crescent City ; besides which, there were In- 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 155 

diaii farms, as adjuncts of these reservations, at the 
Tremo, ^Nonie Cult or Round Yalley, the Mattole 
Yalley, near Cape Mendocino, and other points. 

Unfortunately one pohit escaped the observation 
of Congress and Government in regard to the system 
carried by the Catholic clergy, whicli had worked so 
admirably in California with the Indians. The Ca- 
tholic Missionaries were persons actuated by no hu- 
man purpose. Their object was to carry the light 
of the Catholic Church to those distant children of 
the forests. The primary mission of the Catholic 
Church is to win souls to Heaven ; the secondary 
mission is to advance human civilization in the culti- 
vation of man in this world, in his education and in- 
struction of things of this life. Tiiese two objects are 
intrinsically connecting each other. The former 
naturally generates the latter, the latter cannot sub- 
sist without tlie former. The Missionaries were self- 
sacrificing men, entirely disinterested, earnestly and 
altogether devoted to carry out those two missions 
of the Church of Christ. They soon won the confi- 
dence of the Indians. They with their example, 
simplicity of life, mortification, and self-denial, en- 
graved into the hearts of those Indians the maxims 
of the Gospel, which they preached to them; and 
God who had promised to give efiicacy to the words 
of those whom he liad charged to teach all nations, 
and to be with them even to the end of the world, 
gave grace and assistance, and the Missions yielded 
a hundred-fold fruits. 

This point was entirely disregarded by Congress. 
Its object was only human, and regarded only this 



166 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTOKY. 

world. 'No provisions were made to win the Indians 
to Heaven, but only to gain them to the Govern- 
ment. The persons employed to carry out this sys- 
tem were people who had worked for the election of 
the Administration, and were to be rewarded by lu- 
crative offices, and while they were to look after the 
Indians, they were to gain votes for the new candi- 
dates. They could not persuade the Indians -to be 
temperate, as liquor was used very freely by the offi- 
cers, and persons of intemperate habits were ill calcu- 
lated to improve the morals of the Indians. The 
funds appropriated for the Indians were used for 
electioneering purposes. 

From time to time very flattering accounts were 
transmitted to Congress of the progress of the system. 
The extent and variety of the crops were fabulously 
grand. Immense numbers of Indians were fed and 
clothed — on paper. The Department esteemed all 
this to be a close approximation to the Spanish Mis- 
sion system. But notwithstanding these flattering 
accounts, complaints were continually sent to the 
Government that a very large amount of money was 
annually expended in feeding white men, and starv- 
ing and destroying the Indians. A special agent 
was directed to examine into the aft^airs of the ser- 
vice, and report the result. He went to California, 
examined the afl*airs, and reported to the Govern- 
ment that the policy pursued was wrong. The white 
people were becoming fat and the Indians starved. 
During a period of three years from mail to mail the 
agent made his reports piling up proof upon proof, 
protesting and remonstrating against the policy pur- 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 157 

Bued. Other ai^ents were sent to ascertain if he had 
told the truth, who were forced to confess the truth 
of wliat he had said. 

Kotwitlistanding these reports, the Indians were 
starving in the reservation, and nianj of these who 
were physically able took advantage of the leave of 
absence granted them freely, and left. Yery few 
ever remained at these benevolent institutions, when 
there was a possibility of getting anything to eat in 
the woods. Every year numbers of them perished 
from neglect and disease, and some fj-oni absolute 
starvation. Only a few hundred Indians were left 
out of the many thousand that existed prior to the 
inauguration of the system, living within the limits 
of the districts set apart fur reservation purposes. 
'No pretext has been wasted ; no opportunity lost to 
put the Indians out of the way. At ]S"ome Cult Yal- 
ley during the winter of 1858-59 more than a 
liundred and fifty peaceable Indians, including 
women and children, were cruelly slaughtered by the 
whites. ^ Mr. J. Koss Browne relates this barbarous 
ti'eatment in the following words.* It was alleged 
that they (the Indians) had driven off and eaten pri- 
vate cattle. ..." Upon an investigation of this 
charge, made by the officers of the army, it was 
found to be entirely destitute of truth : a few cattle 
had been lost, or probal)ly killed by white men, and 
this was the whole basis of the massacre. Armed 
parties went into the rancheros in open day, when no 
evil was apprehended, and shot the Indians down, 
weak, harmless, and defenceless as they were — witb- 

* Harper's Magazine. 
8* 



158 THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 

out distinction of age or sex ; sliot down women with 
sucking babes at their breasts ; killed or crippled the 
naked children that were running about; and after 
they had achieved this braA^e exploit, appealed to 
the State Government for aid. Oh ! shame, shame ! 
where is thy blush, that white men should do this 
with impunity in a civilized country, under the very 
eyes of an enlightened Government. They did it, 
and they did more. For days, weeks, and months, 
they ranged the hills of Xome Cult, killing every In- 
dian that was too weak to escape ; and what is worse, 
they did it nnder a State Commission. . . . The 
General Government folded its arms and said — What 
can we do ? We cannot chastise the citizens of a 
State." 

" At King's Kiver, where there w^as a public farm 
maintained at considerable expense, the Indians were 
collected in a body of two or three hundred, and the 
white settlers, who complained that the Government 
would not do any thing for them, drove them over 
to the Agency at the Tremo. ^ 

" The Agent pnrchased from the white settlers the 
acorns which the Indians had gathered and laid up 
for winter use at King's Hiver. ^Notwithstanding 
the acorns they were very soon starved out of the 
Tremo, and wandered away to find a subsistence 
wherever they could. Many of them perished of 
hunger on the plains of the San Joaquin. 

" At the Mattole Station, near Cape Mendocino, a 
number of Indians wei-e murdered on the public farm 
within a few hundred yards of the head-quarters. 
The settlers in the valley alleged that the Govern- 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 159 

ment would not snjp^rt tliem, or take any care of 
tliera ; and as settlers were not paid for doing it, 
they must kill tlicm to get rid of them. 

" At Humboldt Bay, and in the vicinity, a series of 
Indian massacres by white men continued for over 
two years. The citizens held public meetings, and 
protested against the action of the general govern- 
ment in leaving these Indians to prowl upon them 
for a support. . . The State sent out its militia, kill- 
ed a good many, and captured a good many others, 
who were finally carried down to the Mendocino re- 
^servation. They liked that place so well, that they 
hift it very soon, and went back to their old places 
of resort, preferring a chance of life to the certainty 
of starvation. During the w^inter of last year a num- 
ber of them were gathered at Humboldt. The whites 
thought it was a favorable opportunity to get rid of 
them altogether. So they went in a body to the In- 
dian camp during the night, when the poor wretches 
were asleep, shot all the men, women, and children, 
they could at the first onslaught, and cut the throats 
of the remainder. Yery few escaped. 'Next morn- 
ing sixty bodies lay weltering in their blood, the old 
and the young, male and female, w^ith every wound 
gaping a tale of horror to the civilized world. Chil- 
dren climbed upon their mothers' breasts, and sought 
nourishment from the fountains that death had drain- 
ed ; girls and boys lay here and there with their 
throats cut from ear to ear ; men and women, cling- 
ing to each other in their terror, were found perfo- 
rated with bullets ; or cut to pieces with knives ; all 
were cruelly murdered." 



160 ^ THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

This was the result of the system adopted by the 
Government to imitate that of the Catholic Missions; 
it was a complete failure. Two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars a year for six or seven years has in- 
flicted considerable injury upon the poor Indians ; it 
has reduced them from a hundred thousand to about 
thirty thousand, and these are exterminated every 
day. The progress of settlement has driven them 
from place to place till there is no longer a spot that 
they could call their own. The same Mr. Browne 
says : " I am satisfied, from an acquaintance of ele- 
ven years with tlie Indians of California, that had thq 
least care been taken of them, these disgraceful mas- 
sacres would never have occurred. A more inofien- 
sive and harmless race of beings does not exist on 
the face of the earth. But wherever they attempted 
to procure a subsistence, they were hunted down ; 
driven from the reservations by the instinct of self- 
preservation ; shot down by the settlers npon tlie 
most frivolous pretexts ; and abandoned to their fate 
by the only power that could. have afforded lliem 
protection. . . . They have no voice in public afi'airs. 
All they ask, is the privilege of breathing tlie air 
that God gave to us all, and living in peace wher- 
ever it may be convenient to remove them. Their 
history in California is a melancholy record of neg- 
lect and cruelty ; and the part taken by public men 
high in position in wresting from them the very 
means of subsistence, is one of which any other than 
professional politicians would be ashamed.'' 




CHAPTER XX. 



CONCLUSION. 

tT is liumiliating to state that it was publicly de- 
clared and every where said in Maine, that no 
white man had been, or would be convicted of 
killing an Indian.* One Penobscot chief was slain 
without cause, when on a mission to effect an ex- 
change of prisoners ; anotlier was murdered while 
communicating with a post under a flag of truce ; 
another was decoyed on shipboard, and treated with 
great indignity while under another flag of truce. 
For these murders and otliers far more horrible, no 
Anglo-Saxon was ever punished as the laws required. 
They have always escaped the extreme penalty ot 

* Christian I'Jxaminer, No. cxcix. p. 45. 



162 THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 

the law. The Etchemins of this day know by tradi- 
tion the truth of these facts. In 1817, Piol Zusep 
was tried for his life at Castine, for the murder of 
William Kniglit at Bangor, the previous year ; and 
John ISTeptune, the present Lieutenant-Governor, 
after the verdict of manslaughter, in a thronged as- 
sembly of citizens of his own tribe, and of delegates 
from the Passamaquoddy and St. John's, addressed 
the Judges of -the Supreme Court of Massachusetts 
in mitigation of sentence. His bearing was calm and 
dignified, and he was listened to with profound at- 
tention. "You know," he spoke, " your people do my 
Indians a great deal of wrong. They abuse them very 
much: yes, they murder them; then they walk 
right off, . . . nobody touches them . . . and this 
makes my heart burn " (he meant that white men 
were never so much as arrested). 

The sentence of Piol Zusep was not mitigated. He 
was condemned to suffer the full penalty of the law. 
After a lapse of nearl}^ forty years in prison, his face 
bleached almost to whiteness, he could scarcely be 
recalled b}^ some persons who went to see him. His 
long black hair tangled and knotted, his glaring eyes 
deeply sunken, his hurried paces across his cell, his 
coming to and retreating from the grate, and his 
moans like a child, and his shouts like a madman, 
made a fearful impression on the visitors. Zusep 
died tliere in jail ! An Indian of course must under- 
go the full rigor of the law ; but no Anglo-Saxon 
was ever punished for killing an Indian ! 

The frauds a2:ainst the Indians at the truck or tra- 
ding houses were carried to an astounding extent. 



THE ABNAKIS: AND THEIR HISTORY. 163 

It would be sufficient to say that even Cotton Mather, 
whose heart was hard against the Indians, was ob- 
li2:ed to confess that the beaver trade with the Indi- 
ans was very scandalously managed. In 1676 Ran- 
dolph, in his narrative to the Privy Council of Eng- 
land, si^oke in great bitterness of the general course 
of the Bostonians, and accused the magistrates for 
their profit, lucre, and gain, so provoking the Indians 
to hostile deeds. 

'It would be an easy but long task to mention here 
all the injustice, wrongs, and abuses perpetrated by 
the white men against the red race in the United 
States of America ; it would require the space of 
several volumes to relate these melancholy events. It 
is hoped, however, that it will be done by the per- 
son who has to write the history of the noble red man. 
It will belong to him to expose before the civilized 
world the just complaints of the Aborigines of Ame- 
rica. He has to do justice to the kindness and socia- 
bility of the Indians. If instead of the imaginary 
romance of Uncle To'un^s Cabin, an historical w^ork 
had been written on the Heel Man's Wigwam, not 
with a spirit to alienate a part of the people against 
another, not to excite political intrigues, but with the 
intention to unite their hearts together to see and 
consider the wrongs done against the red man ; to re- 
pair the evils which they have inflicted on them ; 
to treat them kindly and justly in the future; if 
the government had taken only half the trouble 
and money spent for the negroes, to redress the 
wrongs of the unlucky Indians, who were the only 
lords and masters of this Continent, it would have 



164 



THE ABNAKIS : AND THEIR HISTORY. 



appeased the wratli of God jnstly kindled against the 
people of this country, it might have arrested the 
chastisement of a civil war with which the Almighty 
and just Father of all races has punished the white 
men, who, having robbed the Indians of their homes 
and property, which He had given to them, now force 
them even to disappear from the face of the earth. 




i 



i 



APPENDIX. 



LETTEE OF BISHOP CAEEOLL TO THE 
ABI^AEIS. 

Beethken akd Beloved Children- m Jesijs Christ : 

I received with the greatest pleasure the testi- 
mony of your attachment to your holy religion, 
and I venerated the sacred Crucifix sent by you as 
expressive of your faith. 

Brethren and Children: 

I embrace you with the affection of a Father, and 
am exceedingly desirous to procure for you a worthy 
Teacher and Minister of God's holy Sanctuary, who 
may administer to your young people^ your sons and 
your daughters, the Sacrament of Baptism; may 
instruct them and you in the law of God and the 
exercises of a Christian life ; may reconcile you to 
God, your Lord and Maker, after all your transgres- 
sions ; and may perform for your women, after 
child-bearing, the Eites ordained by the Church of 
Christ, i 



1 66 APPENDIX. 

Bretheen and Beloved Childken" : 

As soon as I received your request, and was in- 
formed of your necessity, I sent for one or two vir- 
tuous and worthy Priests to go and remain with you, 
that you may never more be reduced to the same 
distressful situation in which you have lived so long. 
But as they are far distant, I am afraid they will not 
be with you before the putting out of the leaves 
again. This should have been done much sooner, if 
I had been informed of your situation. You may 
depend upon it, that you shall be always in my 
heart and in my mind ; and if it please God to give 
me time, I will certainly visit you myself. 

Beethken and Beloved Children: 

I trust in that good God that made us all, and in 
his blessed Son, Jesus Christ, who redeemed us, that 
all the Indians northward and eastward will be made 
partakers of the blessing which my desire is to procure 
for you ; and I rejoice very much that you and they 
wish to be united to your brethren the Americans. 
You have done very well not to receive amongst 
you those ministers who go without being called, or 
without being sent by that authority which Jesus 
Christ has established for the government of His 
Church. Those whom I shall send to you will be 
such good and virtuous priests, as instructed your 
Forefathers in the Law of God, and taught them to 



APPENDIX. 167 

regard this life only as a preparation for, and a pas- 
sage to a better in Heaven. 

In token of my Fatherly Love and sincere affection, 
I send back to you, after embracing it, the Holy 
Crucifix which I received with your letter, and I 
enclose it in a picture of our Holy Father the Pope, 
the Head on earth, under Christ, of our Divine Reli- 
gion ; and this my answer is likewise accompanied 
with nine medals representing our divine Lord Jesus 
Christ and His most holy Mother. I desire that these 
may be received by the Chiefs of the River St. John, 
Passamaquady, and Michmacs, who signed the ad- 
dress to me. They came from, and have received 
the blessing of, our same Holy Father, the Yicar of 
Jesus Christ in the government of His Church. 

That the blessing of God may come down upon 
you, your women and children, and remain for ever, 
is the Earnest prayer of 

Your loving Father, Friend, and 

Servant in Jesus Christ, 

^* J., Bishop of BALTBiOREi 
Baltimore, September 6, 1*191. 



168 APPENDIX. 



LETTEE OF THE ABNAKIS IISTDIAI^S TO 
THE CAJSTOXS OF CHAETEES. 

8rereda niga^sseman pita »erigliian Marin eekkaain- 
bi pakitinem^rerena pita «erighek ^etyannemeg, kik- 
hi k«reremanbanak nesesisseliasakkicLikj/ereredam- 
enesa anir egman»a apaktinigani^anr. Srereda nek- 
kwambi pakitinem^reg ni«ra aiineglie «e»eremeregh 
^ban eregbikikkai kechalianchran, nederotechansi 
beneh«li«ban amante «a aramikaoked, amante keg«e 
pakitinasked, ne mina nedagatchebenederit chanei 
Ben»h«n»b«ban nekeuskere sibensh«hsban : teba 
teba« niana h«ban ni anneghe pambatameg, neda- 
ramika^anna ^eniiiamiit KercTii Niaesk »rnan«at 
nesisissena^ak pambatam»k naiii^at ye»andami^k kicbi 
«reremegsanr SangbemaD» Mariar »derereman 
egman^^a Mari pakitima«ai^idih rewemank,- kichi 
»e«endam«k ni«a dakki essema endam«bbena, 
essema newewedamsi^nema erekameghessihidit 
pambatami wewendaghik ewitclian wegheban, 
kyeremibbena ette nekk^ambi, Mari pita sang- 
hemanyeremegi^sian, me^iassis etto nekk»ambi 
newesandamybbena acacheredam enena matchaka- 
meg oess s^yiergbeban ,nedakkin«k csk»a epiegbe, 
nekk^ambi nekikta»anna keneman nederang^maima 
«a keneman ewi s«gbembanachq : atelis kedi- 



APPENDIX. 169 

«ewebena ksnemaimin nhagena. Ureremni«e pegi<a 
nekksanbekegsssimis pakitinemi^reglie gher^sitama- 
we»e«rakecltcli nemittangasena SAISTGMANWI 
FEAJSrgOIS DE SALES wa nan^al kemureg«bban 
»haghe nambi kemirerena nanaghena io sksians» 
Ipski^digani^itcb askamii^i eri mirereg nahaghena kia 
askamii^i teberemine Mari werigbian teberemat An- 
geriak te arenambak. Pegek«n ke«ik«te m^rebana 
uriderakamdamussa khaghek kenemann Jes«3 «ri- 
darakaudatch neresanganin^kdari aneuten tap-ahi 
niHsanxereg kia te kemmantcLari metchi naegbe 
arambada askami^si io skranss, Mari ari askamiwi 
kberaminitch nekerss^sanganena nej^ik^temewangane- 
na amanti askami^ji teberemieg amante askamiwi 
kiktsireg pernemas^ine heresanganemk vikstemwreg. 

This vow must have been written soon after the 
conversion of the Abnakis to Christianity, as appears 
from the meaning of the vow, and from the lan- 
guage, which is several hundred years old, and obso- 
lete in many words and exj^ressions. 

OuE Good Mothek, vert Beloved Mary : — E'ow 
the best offer that we can make is, that we mi^ht 
give up our sins ; be willing that, through reverence 
to our elder brother,* theyf may ask the for- 
giveness of our sins. Accept now the offer that we 



* The Canons o£ Chartres. f The Canons. 



170 APPENDIX. 

make of ourselves to you. "We now have more 
extensively come to tlie knowledge wlio made us, 
and how He went to work to save us by buying us. 
Oh, that we might have known it before ! We feel 
ashamed, we stop doing wrong, and we offer a repa- 
ration for our sins. He redeemed us while we were 
in sin, by our mother. We do wrong, but it is just 
now that we commence to be Christians. We are 
coming thither because we have long ago lost the 
Great Spirit. Five years ago our eldest brothers,* 
by praying, made us pure Christians. Great good 
Mother, Sangmanf Mary, Mary made powerful by 
Him,:}: make the offer for us for our sins ! It is by 
the instructions of the Catliolic religion that we 
came to the knowledge that we were in sin, and 
that we were committing sin ; but we never knew it 
before that time ; no, we never did. Now you 
know us, O Mary, very good Mother. We are be- 
come a little wiser, hence we feel ashamed of our 
bad conduct while we were in the state of a savage 
wild life, l^ow we obey your Son — what we call 
your Son ;§ being baptized now, we want to know 

* Perhaps the Canons of Chartres, or the Missionaries. 

f The title of the Governor or Governess. It is the highest title 
the Indians can give. 

X The Great Spirit. 

§ The Indian expression means that the Son of God was true Son 
of Mary in His humanity. ^ 



APPENDIX. 171 

whether we are your children. It is a little thing, 
yet we offer it of good will for our sins. Speak for 
us to our Father, the Sangman Francis de Sales, 
whose body long time ago was buried there. We 
offer ourselves to you for ever ; and this wampoon,* 
which we give to you for ever, be an everlasting 
token between us for ever. Mary, good owner of 
the angels and of the Indians, one thing we ask from 
you — that your Son Jesus may be as safe in our 
hearts as He was safe in your body. We love you 
and your Son till we die, and for ever. Mary, ac- 
cept this wampoon for ever. May you accept our 
words and our offer by prayer for ever ! May you 
own us for ever ! We like to obey you. Place in 
our hearts what we are asking in this petition. 



* Skufansu is au obsolete word for wampum. 



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